Obesity rate, reduce it to 25% to counter diabetes

Reducing the obesity rate of 25 percent by 2045 it is possible to curb the growth of diabetes, stabilizing the percentage in the world population at 10 percent and avoiding over 110 million new cases of illness in the next 25-30 years, with a saving of $ 200 billion a year; Furthermore, by acting with particular attention to childhood obesity, you can invert its race.
It is possible to curb the race of diabetes, acting on the factors that contribute to the expansion of this disease in the world population and that can be changed: first of all the obesity. This is the message, and at the same time the objective of the promoters of the program Cities Changing Diabetes, initiative of which he opens in the afternoon in Houston, Texas, the second international summit.

Obesity rate, fight against diabetes by lowering the percentage of obesity

“We launched Cities Changing Diabetes in 2014, with the belief that the growth of diabetes is not inevitable or unstoppable,” said Allan Fluvbjerg, CEO of the Steno Diabetes Center of Copenhagen, David Napier, director of Science, Medicine and Social Network of the University College University London and Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk – The three organizations that conceived, promoted and supported the program which, in these first 4 years of life, has already involved universities, public administrations, the world of research and academic, civil society of eight world metropolises: Mexico City , Copenhagen, Houston, Johannesburg, Shanghai, Tianjin, Vancouver and, in 2017, Rome.

“Diabetes grows at alarming rhythm – explains Francesco Dotta, professor of Endocrinology at the University of Siena and coordinator of the Rome Cities Changing Diabetes Publication Planning Committee. According to data from the International Diabetes Federation, the percentage of population affected by the disease – Technically the prevalence – In the world it has almost doubled since the early 2000s, going from 4.6 percent to 9 percent in 2017, which corresponds to over 430 million people with diabetes. The World Health Organization makes it clear that the human and economic cost of the advance of the disease and its complications for individuals, their families and the community are unsustainable.”

Diabetes many factors to say Ketty Vaccaro

“The factors behind this growth have been clearly identified – Adds Ketty Vaccaro, Welfare Area Manager and Censis Health. These include the aging of the population, the urbanization of growing population, the unhealthy diets and the increasingly scarce physical activity. On these risk factors, even on the structural and long derives as aging and urbanization, the socio-economic and cultural differences exert a strong weight.

Taking into consideration the social determinants of health and acting on inequalities is an essential precondition to face significant risk conditions such as obesity and overweight and to guarantee the effectiveness of diabetes’ prevention and management strategies “.

The experts put at work by Cities Changing Diabetes have, in fact, identified in obesity the cause more easily tackled and have developed a mathematical model, based on the data existing in international databases and in literature – the Diabetes Project Model – which allows to analyze the trend of the prevalence of diabetes over time and shows how by reducing that of obesity it is possible to decrease the weight of diabetes itself on society, in terms of social and economic costs.

The model considers two possible scenarios: the first estimate what would happen if the growth of obesity continues with the current trend; the second with an intervention that reduced the obesity of 25 percent by 2045. Worldwide, in 2045, without any intervention there would be a prevalence of diabetes at 11.7 percent, with a surge compared to today by over 25 percent, which would bring to 736 million the total of people with diabetes in world and almost a billion and a half the obese ones. Instead, acting on the obesity lever, 10 percent stabilization would be produced with diabetes, which would limit its growth to 625 million considering the world demographic increase.

Furthermore, if we began to act against childhood obesity today, one could at the same time obtain the reversal of the trend, with a slow albeit, but continuous decrease in the prevalence of diabetes from here to the end of the 21st century.

The economic impact is also important

The model calculates that worldwide, without any intervention, the annual costs of diabetes would rise from the current 775 billion dollars to over 1.000 billion in 2045. Instead, limiting the prevalence of diabetes to 10 percent, a saving of $ 200 billion per year would be obtained.

“This goal is fully achievable – supports Napier. Would have a significant impact on the health and well -being of tens of millions of people, at the same time breastfeeding the pressure that weighs on health systems already widely under stress.”

To reach it, however, it is necessary that the forces will join. “In the cities where he is active, Cities Changing Diabetes has already demonstrated the strength of public-private collaboration projects, mobilizing for this common cause of the most diverse draws” adds Flyvbierg.

“So important challenges require a real alliance between all the interlocutors who can and must play a role: local administrators, civic organizations, subjects of the world of institutions and science. They also pass through an active involvement of citizens, an investment on the empowerment that leads to greater awareness of the correct lifestyles, which help to prevent and manage diabetes – comments Antonio Gaudioso, general secretary of citizenship. Having a ‘health’ cities, where social, health, public transport, leisure and sport services are designed to ‘citizen measurement’ is the best investment that we can do for present and future health.”

The Diabetes Project Model, like other analysis and evaluation tools created for the Cities Changing Diabetes program, “are available to each city administration wants to actively engage in this effort with their own initiatives and contribute, all together, to curb the race of diabetes. The urban pandemic of diabetes places a great challenge to the cities of the world, which can be tackled united, acting on the largest modifiable risk factor for diabetes: L ’ obesity “, concludes Fruergaard Jorgensen.

Cities Changing Diabetes

Cities Changing Diabetes It is a program dedicated to dealing with the problem of diabetes in urban areas. The program is a response to the strong increase in diabetes in the city and was developed in collaboration by Novo Nordisk, University College London and Steno Diabetes Center, as well as by a series of local partners, including patient associations, city authorities, academic institutions, experts from various fields and civil society organizations.
The goal of the program is that of map the problem, Share solutions and design concrete actions to combat diabetes challenge in big cities around the world.

Today the program represents 75 million citizens In nine cities all over the world: Copenhagen, Houston, Mexico City, Johannesburg, Rome, Tianjin, Shanghai, Vancouver and Xiann.