The number of people with diabetes in the United Kingdom has reached four million for the first time. The data compiled by Diabetes UK show 4.05 million people with diabetes are now living in the UK.
The number of adults officially diagnosed is at 3.5 million. This is an additional 119, 965 from the previous year and increase of 65 percent over the past decade. The number of people who are afflicted (undiagnosed) with Type 2 diabetes is at 549,000. Type 2 diabetes is mostly linked to unhealthy lifestyles like obesity. It has been estimated that there will be five million people with diabetes by the end of 2025.
"With four million people in the UK now living with diabetes, the need to tackle this serious health condition has never been so stark or so urgent," Chris Askew, chief executive of Diabetes UK.
There has been a need for a concerted effort by the government to take a more pro-active steps to address that two out of every three people in the United Kingdom are overweight or obese. People who have weight problems have a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
"Basic measures such as making healthy food cheaper and more accessible, introducing clearer food labelling and making it easier for people to build physical activity into their daily lives would have a profound influence," Askew added.
The people's unawareness of unhealthy lifestyle's contribution to their failing health is also staggering. According to the World Cancer Research, they recently conducted a poll with 2,000 adult correspondents and found out that 41 percent of them are unaware that having weight issues also increases the risk of developing cancer. Fifty-four percent of them were also not aware that physical inactivity can actually increase the risk of cancer. Forty percent of the correspondents are unaware that poor diet is linked to the increase of risk of cancer development. Finally, the survey data show that 43 percent of the poll takers are unaware that drinking alcohol contributes to cancer development.
