South Asians at Risk

June 2010

Diabetes is now as problematic for South Asian people in Counties Manukau as it is for Pacific people according to new information from the Counties Manukau District Health Board (CMDHB).

The growth in the condition is part of a global trend which United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has labelled “a public health emergency in slow motion”.

A recent analysis of information by the CMDHB reveals that 31,500 adults in Counties Manukau had diabetes at the end of last year. About 4000 of these were from the South Asian community, which in Counties Manukau primarily comprises those of Indian descent.

This means between 12% and 15% of the South Asian adult population in Counties Manukau has diabetes. This percentage is comparable to that of the district’s Pacific population who has been known to have particularly high rates of diabetes in the past.

One of the reasons for the increase is thought to be the proactive work by primary health organisations and primary care providers in identifying more people with the disease. At the same time, these figures do not account for people who may have undiagnosed diabetes meaning that the scale of the “emergency” is likely to be greater than currently estimated.

The factors which contribute to these high rates of diabetes in South Asian communities are linked to physical activity, nutrition and subsequent obesity. Asian people, especially women, are known to have the lowest rates of regular physical activity in New Zealand. Deep frying and a tendency to eat high-energy foods (for example putting lots of sugar into tea or coffee), coupled with a lower intake of fruit and vegetables, are also more common in South Asian diets. These factors have led to high rates of obesity in South Asian populations – a problem which is known to get worse the longer an individual lives in New Zealand.

CMDHB Chief Executive Officer Geraint Martin says that, along with smoking, the factors which lead to diabetes are “the biggest health issues facing the Counties Manukau community”.

For South Asian communities, this is because diabetes greatly increases the risk of coronary heart disease for which a large number of South Asian people already receive hospitalisation and treatment. Diabetes can also lead to kidney failure, blindness and limb amputations.

The scale of the problem is such that the CMDHB has been running the Let’s Beat Diabetes programme alongside a range of community partners for the past five years to raise awareness of diabetes and how to prevent the condition through lifestyle changes.

“If we can’t help our population to change their ways of eating and their physical activity habits, our diabetes services will be overwhelmed,” says Dr Brandon Orr-Walker, Clinical Head of Diabetes Services at the CMDHB.

It is thought that the number of people with diabetes in Counties Manukau will double by 2027 but that two-thirds of this group could avoid the condition through lifestyle changes.

Dr Orr-Walker is now urging people who are at-risk to take up this challenge by increasing their physical activity, reducing energy intake and losing weight. He also recommends that those who are concerned about their risk of diabetes visit their doctor or family nurse to see if they need to be tested and to talk about diabetes prevention.