According to World Health Organization, Diabetes Mellitus is one of the four major non-communicable diseases (the others being cardiovascular diseases, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases, jointly contributing to 63 per cent of NCD deaths worldwide).
From 1980 to 2014, the number of people living with diabetes globally increased from 108 million to 442 million. In Kenya, diabetes has been on the rise due to demographic and social changes, including urbanisation, an ageing population and the adoption of unhealthy lifestyles, according to a 2015 survey, which also found that 88 per cent of people do not know their diabetes status.
Forty years ago, it was nearly impossible to find cases of type 2 diabetes among children and young people. However, the rising number of such cases in recent times is a significant dismay. Research shows that Kenya has a 60 per cent obesity prevalence among urban dwellers and about 20 per cent among people living in rural areas.
Historically, the most common form of diabetes in children was type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Today, this is not just the case.
A new trend of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in children is emerging as more children are eating unhealthy foods and engaging in fewer physical activities. T2D occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn't produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels.
According to WHO, childhood obesity has tripled over the past 50 years. Excessive body weight, among other key factors, has been linked to rising cases of childhood type 2 diabetes in Kenya. If the current diabetes trends continue unchanged, both the number of people living with diabetes and the deaths from diabetes are projected to surge in the near future.
Unhealthy eating habits and the high availability of fast foods have led to obesity among children. This explains the discrepancies in cases of diabetes between rural and urban areas, as highlighted earlier. Urban households are mostly characterised by a heavy intake of junk foods such as chips, pizza and other processed foods.
Many of us are familiar with the 'school café', where children also consume sugary foods like sweets, cookies and cakes as comfort foods and snacks during break time. It is not a big surprise to witness the emerging pattern of obese children as most urban areas lack adequate open space for them to participate in recreational activities.
When medical conditions that are typically associated with late adulthood start affecting adolescents and young people, our demographic dividend as a country is in jeopardy. This is because it may result in increased healthcare costs, reduced productivity and potential strain on the healthcare system and economy as a whole.
It is, therefore, crucial for the Ministry of Health to examine the burden and risk factors for diabetes at the national level and conduct an overhaul change that does not just focus on response but also prevention, such as regulating food junk advertisements on media platforms and creating awareness around T2D and lifestyle.
Youth coordinator at the Centre for the Study of Adolescence. [email protected]/@DollarmanKE
