Diabetes increase can not be explained solely with obesity
Since 1998 the number of obese people in Germany as a whole is unchanged, the increased of obese men and women easily. In the same period there was a significant increase of diseases with Type 2 diabetes mellitus, as a recent study by the Robert Koch Institute shows. This diabetes increase does not correspond to more obese people in our society, notes the German Diabetes Association (DDG).
"Overweight and lack of exercise are therefore not the sole cause of the increase in diabetes," emphasizes DDG President Professor Dr. medical Stephan Matthaei from Quakenbrück. Research must be intensified in order to identify and counteract other risk factors.
The “Study on the health of adults in Germany” by the Robert Koch Institute came to the conclusion that the proportion of overweight and obese people with a body mass index of over 25 kg/m² in the period 1998 to 2012 was 67 percent of men and 53 percent of women remained the same. At the same time, the proportion of obese men with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m² increased slightly from 19 to 23 percent and the proportion of obese women from 23 to 24 percent during this period.
The increase in type 2 diabetes mellitus is much more dramatic for this time corridor: the number of people diagnosed with diabetes mellitus rose from 1998 to 2012 percent of the population from 5,2 to 7,2. This corresponds to well over a million more people with diabetes - although the proportion of people who are physically active has also increased significantly. According to the RKI study, a total of 5,9 million people in Germany suffer from diabetes, including those who are still undiagnosed. This number will continue to rise rapidly by 2030 million by 1,5, just among the 55 to 74 year olds, as epidemiological estimates recently showed.
"Balanced nutrition and exercise are very important," emphasizes DDG spokesman Professor Dr. medical Andreas Fritsche from Tübingen. "However, the figures show that the majority of new cases of diabetes mellitus cannot be attributed solely to the known risk factors of being overweight or lack of exercise." There are people who are not overweight and still develop type 2 diabetes. "Conversely, not everyone who is overweight automatically gets diabetes," says Fritsche. "Even the aging of the population explains the sharp increase in the incidence of diabetes only to a small extent, amounting to 14 percent."
The DDG therefore advocates intensifying research into the widespread disease diabetes. New scientific results indicate that, among other things, the type and distribution of body fat, the liver, genetic characteristics and reduced insulin action have a strong influence on the development of diabetes. "We have to break new ground in prevention and therapy in order to get the diabetes epidemic under control," emphasizes Professor Matthaei. "It is becoming apparent that we need even more tailored, individual measures in lifestyle advice and when changing your diet."
Sources:
Brinks R, Tamayo T, Kowall B, Rathmann W. Prevalence of type 2 diabetes in Germany in 2040: estimates from an epidemiological model. Eur J Epidemiol. 2012
Source: Berlin [DDG]
