•Unhealthy diets, lack of enough exercise, smoking and consumption of alcohol are some of the risk factors
•Symptoms to look out for include frequent hunger and thirst most of the time even after taking a lot of water
Waking your child as early as 4am for school might make them develop diabetes at their tender age, experts have warned.
Experts say the World Health Organisation recommends eight hours of sleep but some people sleep for as little as three hours.
There is growing global concern over the rising burden of diabetes.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin, or when the body cannot make good use of the insulin it produces.
Latest statistics released by the International Diabetes Federation on World Diabetes Day yesterday show that in Kenya, more than 4,000 children below the age of 18 years have diabetes, the youngest being six months.
“Majority of patients present late often with irreversible complications due to poor health-seeking behaviours,” Diabetes Kenya National chairperson Dr Kirtida Acharya said.
Image: MAGDALINE SAYA
The disease, according to experts, can affect anyone from infants to people older than 100 years. But from the age of 40 the risk increases, so people are advised to be screened at least once per year.
Countrywide, the number of Kenyans with diabetes has grown from as 460,000 in 2017 to 700,000 as per yesterday.
In Africa, there were 15 million cases in 2017 and 19 million in 2019, a growth of two million in just two years.
The figure rose globally from 425 million 463 million as per yesterday.
Head of diabetes programmes at the Ministry of Health Zachary Muriuki says the increase in numbers has been attributed to various factors.
“First, is the issue of unhealthy diets. It is now easier to get chips and canned juices instead if eating fruits. People are so lazy that they use Uber or motorbikes instead of walking,” Muriuki said.
Lack of enough exercise, smoking and consumption of alcohol are other risk factors.
“There is also the problem of lack of enough sleep. Waking kids as early as 4am to go to school, and staying long hours at night on the phone or watching TV instead of sleeping.”
The World Health Organisation recommends eight hours of sleep.
Some of the symptoms Kenyans have been told to look out for include experiencing frequent hunger where you eat as close intervals and feeling thirsty most of the time even after taking a lot of water.
Frequent urination especially at night is another symptom. Some people wake up three four times in a night going for a short call. Or if you go on a journey you keep stopping the driver to go for a short call.
Other symptoms are feeling tired and sleepy barely two hours after waking up.
“If you stay for six years pain starts, you lose your eyesight, the kidney and heart fail. You might get amputated,” Muriuki said.
What is even more worrying is that out of two people with diabetes one doesn’t know they have it.
More than 75 per cent of Kenyans do not know the sign of diabetes or what causes it. Some believe it is as a result of eating too much sugar.
“Diabetes is not death sentence. Having it doesn’t mean you will die. You can manage it, especially type 2,” Muriuki added.
There are three main types of diabetes type 1, type 2 and gestational.