Cases of type 2 Diabetes are risng amongst the under 40’s according to new analysis revealed this week
Diabetes UK say that there has been a 40% rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses in younger people between 2016-17 and 2022-23.
There are now almost 168,000 people under 40 years in the UK who live with type 2 diabetes, an increase of more than 47,000 since 2016-17.
While type 2 diabetes has historically been associated with older people, cases among under-40s have been on the rise in recent years and are now increasing at a faster rate than among over-40s.
The impact is felt disproportionately by those from the most deprived areas and people from Black and South Asian backgrounds.
Children in the most deprived areas are more than five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those in the least deprived areas.
Their new report they say,should serve as a wake-up call to policymakers that this is an incredibly troubling growing trend, underlining how serious health conditions linked to obesity, caused by the environment we live in, are becoming more and more prevalent in a younger demographic.
There are more than 1.2 million people who may be living with type 2 diabetes and have not yet been diagnosed. This means that more than 5.6 million people now live with diabetes in the UK.
They are calling on the Government to put t the building blocks of health in place for every child and young person, including access to green space, affordable, healthy food, and quality housing. and improve our food environment, which is leading to obesity, by introducing delayed restrictions on junk food advertising and expanding on the success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (sugar tax).
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said:
“Diagnoses of type 2 diabetes in people under 40 are rising to alarming levels. It’s a damning indictment of the barriers that many of us face to living a healthy life, where good food is affordable, and exercise isn’t a luxury.
“There is a generational opportunity to stop this crisis in its tracks and we are calling on all political parties to seize it. We need bold action to reverse the rising trend in type 2 diabetes, overturn our broken food environment and give every child and young person the best possible chance to grow up in good health.
“The decisions taken now will not only determine the health of young people today, but also the next generation.”
