Shanghai residents face a higher risk of contracting diabetes
than any other group of people in China, a recent survey
suggests.
About 1.2 million people in Shanghai, or 8.6 percent of the
city's population, have diabetes, according to a survey of 12,000
local residents conducted by the Shanghai Public Health Bureau and
Shanghai Disease Prevention and Control Center ahead of World
Diabetes Day, which is today.
In 1980 only 1.01 percent of Shanghai's population was diagnosed
with the disease. Currently 6.25 percent of China's population has
some form of diabetes.
While the incidence rate in Shanghai is still below the figures
in some Western countries, doctors warned that unhealthy diets and
lifestyles could put a growing number of young people at risk of
contracting the illness.?
According to a Chinese diabetes expert the disease is having a
serious impact on young and middle-aged people. The average age of
diabetics here is less than that of developed countries.
"Diabetes patients aged between 40 and 59 are increasing in
China while diabetics are mostly aged between 60 to 69 in developed
countries," said Guo Xiaohui, head of the Endocrinology Department
in Peking University People's Hospital.
"Senility, family history, hypertension, high blood fats and
obesity have become the five primary danger factors for diabetes,"
said Ning Guang, a professor at Ruijin Hospital. "More than 90
percent of diabetics in the city contract the disease due to
unhealthy diet and lack of exercise."
About 10 percent of obese children in the city will possibly
contract the disease if they don't control their diets, states the
survey. Ning said a healthy diet and plenty of exercise were the
best ways to avoid the disease.
"Healthy food means dishes that are low in sugar and have a good
balance of protein, fat and dietary fiber," said Cao Weixin, a
nutritionist at Ruijin Hospital.
China had 23.8 million diabetics aged between 20-79 in 2003 and
is expected to have 46.1 million by 2025, according to a report by
the International Diabetes Federation.
(Shanghai Daily, Xinhua News Agency November 14,
2006)
