MORE than 10,000 Mackay residents are living with type 2 diabetes, a number which has increased by 43% in the past four years.
The rising number of people who have the disease is not only of great concern to Diabetes Queensland but many Mackay residents have also registered fears about the growing rate.
Research commissioned by Roy Morgan for Diabetes Queensland comes as National Diabetes Week 2013 (July14-20) comes to an end. The research found people living in regional Queensland are more concerned about diabetes with 70% believing diabetes was becoming an epidemic, compared to 61% of people in Brisbane.
Diabetes Queensland chief executive officer Michelle Trute said the increasing number of people living with diabetes in Mackay may be why the results between regional and metropolitan Queenslanders could be differing.
"More than 8.5% of Mackay residents live with diabetes, which is in line with the state average of 8.6%," Ms Trute said. "The diabetes epidemic is a clear and present danger in Mackay and I believe this may be driving the heightened concern."
Ms Trute said the mining work culture could also lead to bad lifestyle habits.
"Mining work can be sedentary and the types of shift patterns typically associated with FIFO and DIDO work can lead to the development of poor eating habits, so these factors could be contributing, however it is important to remember that the type 2 diabetes epidemic is affecting all of Queensland," she said.
"A waist measurement over 80 cm for women and over 94 cm for men dramatically increases a person's risk of developing chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes."
She said Diabetes Queensland is calling on the Federal Government to adopt the organisation's National Diabetes Strategy and Action Plan. This would include preventing more people from developing type 2 diabetes and reducing the impact of diabetes in pregnancy for women and children.
DIABETES
More than 10,000 Mackay people have type 2 diabetes More than 8.5% of Mackay residents live with diabetes The Queensland average is 8.6%
Published on : Saturday, July 20, 2013
Category : Diabetes
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