Global Diabetes Epidemic: Causes, Trends, and Solutions

Introduction: Diabetes as a Global Health Crisis

As obesity becomes an increasingly serious problem worldwide, diabetes has likewise become equally problematic, given that the two conditions are closely interrelated. "Fueled by rapid urbanization, nutrition transition, and increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the epidemic has grown in parallel with the worldwide rise in obesity" (Hu, 2011). Unless the chronic disease of type II diabetes can be better managed and contained, there are potentially severe and long-lasting consequences for the world as a whole. It is of particular concern that diabetes is becoming a major health issue in the developing world — an area where under-nutrition, rather than over-nutrition, was once considered the greater threat. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the condition and its consequences for sufferers and healthcare providers at a global level, as well as to suggest possible approaches to treatment and prevention.

Diabetes is no longer a disease of affluence. According to the International Diabetes Federation, the problem "affects at least 285 million people worldwide, and that number is expected to reach 438 million by the year 2030, with two-thirds of all diabetes cases occurring in low- to middle-income countries. The number of adults with impaired glucose tolerance will rise from 344 million in 2010 to an estimated 472 million by 2030" (Hu, 2011). In fact, diabetes is increasingly a disease of the poor, who have limited access to healthy foods and safe places to exercise and who must rely upon processed, convenience foods for sustenance. The Westernization of the developing world has also disrupted indigenous ways of life, with a particularly serious impact upon persons with specific genetic profiles. Although diabetes is a crisis nearly everywhere, it does not affect all populations to the same degree or in perfect correlation with the rise in obesity.