‘Diabetes Epidemic’

Posted on 28 May 2010.

The diet and lifestyle of the average person in China has changed dramatically in recent years. From a situation a few decades ago where many lived in poverty and struggled to even find enough to eat, much of China has been transformed.

Just as in many Western countries, people now often over-eat and do much less exercise. One result is what has been described as a "diabetes epidemic".

The BBC reports that one in 10 adults in China now suffer from diabetes. "Rigorous new tests suggested that more than 92 million Chinese adults had diabetes and that nearly 150 million more were showing early symptoms," according to researchers. "This represents a major public health problem for the authorities in Beijing as diabetes is a major factor in illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease."

Yang Wenying, from Beijing's China-Japan Friendship Hospital, says, "In the last 10 years, with the country's economy expanding quickly and people's standard of living improving, people's lifestyles have changed. China's economic development has gone from a situation of not being able to eat enough, of poverty, to having enough food and warm clothes, and doing much less exercise."

China now has more diabetics than anywhere else in the world, with most cases remaining undiagnosed and therefore untreated.

Pray for health workers and government officials as they seek to deal with this ‘diabetes epidemic'.

Pray that those who suffer from diabetes might receive the treatment and advice that they need.

Pray for better health education to raise the level of awareness of the dangers of bad diet and lack of exercise, and to enable people to recognise the symptoms of diabetes and seek treatment.