Cognizance & Commitment to Diabetes Control

Education to Protect Tomorrow – Key to Prevent Diabetes

Hi everyone, undoubtedly, we are living in an era of diabetogenic environment. According to the International Diabetes Federation statistics, last year, around 537 million people in the age group of 20-79 years had diabetes. This number is predicted to increase to 643 million (year 2030) and 783 million (year 2045). Out of 4 people with a diabetic condition, 3 are from economically weaker countries. Out of 240 million people, 1 person out of 2 has a diabetic condition that is not diagnosed.

In India, 74.2 million people are living with diabetes. India accounts for 1 in 7 of all adults living with diabetes in the world. A percentage increase of 69% in the number of people with diabetes is expected, which will work out to around 152 million people with diabetes by 2045 in India.

Diabetes Education Is a Fundamental Component of Diabetes Care

The World Diabetes Day theme for this year 2022 is “Education to Protect Tomorrow”.

Diabetes is the real time bomb of our century and it needs a lot of effort from the policy makers as well as the health care workers to prevent the problem from the beginning itself.

Today, we are living in the informative era and the main tool to prevent non-communicable disorders like diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidaemia (high cholesterol) & obesity is giving right informative education and lifestyle modification to reduce this burden in the future.

Awareness

Only if people are aware of the risk factors about diabetes can they do something about it.

There are a lot of risk factors categorised which can be hereditary, the current environmental risk factors such as availability & consuming high calorie diet with more sedentary life style without physical activity and stressful environment. These are the risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes.

A Healthy Diet – Tips

• Replace bottled drinks and juices with water, coffee and tea.
• At least 3 of your meals in a day should have vegetables.
• The same goes for fruits – fresh fruits thrice a day is recommended.
• For a mid-day snack, look towards yogurts that do not have added sugar.
• Non-vegetarian options include white meat, chicken and sea food.
• Whole grain food stuffs are always preferable.
• When it comes to oils, unsaturated fats are preferable.

Move More to Reduce Risk

Making sure we stay active is of paramount importance in the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Whether it is a jog or getting up from your seat and doing more around the house, even moving a little more makes a big difference.

Studies have proven that people who were overweight and reduced 10 percent from the existing weight reversed diabetes to euglycemic status.

Make Changes Part of Your Every Day

Changing lifestyle can be difficult, so start with doable changes and then gradually increase.

Sometimes, your motivation might waver but keep in mind that the benefits of making lifestyle changes for the better are manifold and drastically reduce the risk of diabetes. And it is also important to remember that the changes are for a lifetime.

Eating a healthy balanced diet with regular exercise and maintaining this lifestyle is the key for a happy future.

Weight loss has quite an effect on diabetes as even a loss of 1 kg can bring down the diabetic risk factor. There is no one set plan which helps everyone lose weight – different things work for different people so it is up to the individual to determine what suits him best.

It’s time to put your plan into action. Start small and do something you enjoy. Doing just a little bit more each day will still make a difference. It also means you’re more likely to stick to it and the change won’t be such a shock to your daily routine.

Each healthy choice you make is helping you achieve your goal. If you find it hard, don’t give up – start again tomorrow.

Act today to change tomorrow, choose a healthy lifestyle to prevent diabetes – this is the need of the hour for our country to prevent a diabetes tsunami in the future.