At PGI, Chandigarh, one in four new diabetes patients is below 40

Dr Poonam Khanna, Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Public Health, PGI, says diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, and cancer, are associated with obesity. Dr Anil Bhansali, former head, the Department of Endocrinology PGI, says at present, the risk of diabetes is increasing rapidly even in young people.

“One in every four new diabetes patients is below 40 years of age. In Chandigarh, the prevalence of diabetes is 20.4% and apart from an unhealthy diet, lack of sleep, and inadequate physical activity are also contributing to the high numbers.”

As per the NCD registry, in the last year itself, the number of Type 2 diabetes cases has increased, with many under 18 diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, with more boys than girls diagnosed. Prof J S Thakur of PGI School of Public Health believes that lifestyle change is paramount to check the increase in cases for better management of the disease.

Diabetes reversal is an area where the Department of Endocrinology is working extensively, with a study being done on people in the age group of 18 and 65 years of age, who have had Type 2 diabetes, for not more than two years, and as per the lead investigator of the study, the results of the study have been positive.

According to a study published in the Lancet, 70 per cent of India’s urban population is in the obese or overweight bracket. India is just behind the US and China in this global hazard list of the top 10 countries with the highest number of obese people. Dr Amit Garg, associate director of bariatric and metabolic surgery at Ivy Hospital, Mohali, says that 30 million of India’s adult population is either overweight or obese and 62 million diabetic Indians exhibit unique features of obesity like excess body fat, abdominal adiposity, increased subcutaneous (under the skin) and intra-abdominal fat, and deposition of fat in ectopic sites such as liver, muscle and others.

Dr Garg maintains that obesity is a major driver for the widely prevalent Type-2 diabetes. “Losing even 5-10 per cent of your weight can delay or prevent some of the diseases,” says Dr Garg, adding that diabesity (diabetes and obesity) is prevalent in 60 per cent of diabetic patients in India, out of which around 25-30 per cent have a high BMI index of more than 30.

He shares simple tips to tips to reduce weight.

– Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and less fried foods.

– Eat fibrerich foods like whole grains, pulses and sprouts in your diet.

– Steam vegetables rather than fry them.

– Eat small meals every two-three hours regularly rather than consuming large meals.

– Reduce the consumption of sugar, alcohol and fatty foods in your diet.

– Opt for low-fat milk over high-fat milk.

– Enrich your diet with proteins rather than carbohydrates and fats to reduce weight.

– Exercise daily to keep your body weight under control.

– Avoid sitting in the same position for a longer duration. Take short breaks frequently.

– Lose weight gradually.