East Coast diabetes timebomb

Nearly half the adult population surveyed for a study on the East Coast have been found to be insulin resistant, putting them at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study of a rural Maori community showed insulin resistance, which is believed to be the earliest identifiable phase of type 2 diabetes and a major risk factor for heart disease, was more common among those in their 30s.

The authors of the research, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today, said the findings were "considerable cause for concern" as the "diabetes burden" was likely to escalate unless effective intervention programmes were put in place.

A separate, national study has found that more than half the post-menopausal women interviewed were at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes because they were overweight or inactive.

A Ministry of Health survey published last year showed 21.4 per cent of Maori males and 13 per cent of Maori females reported they were diabetic compared to 8.6 per cent of non-Maori males and 7.5 per cent of non-Maori females.

The latest East Coast survey, based on interviews with 289 people from the patient register of Ngati Porou Hauroa, a primary healthcare organisation north of Gisborne, found more than 90 per cent were either overweight or obese.

A range of tests, including blood tests studying the levels of insulin and triglycerides (a type of fat in the blood), showed 40 per cent of women and 36 per cent of men were insulin resistant.

The researchers said there was little information on the rates of insulin resistance among the New Zealand population but overseas studies estimated that as many as 25 per cent of adults of European descent could be insulin resistant.

Professor Jim Mann, director of the Edgar National Centre for Diabetes Research at Otago University and one of the study authors, said research showed lifestyle programmes, which included daily exercise and a healthy diet, could reduce insulin resistance.

Six months ago Ngati Porou Hauroa set up a programme called "Ngati and Healthy" .

Regional manager Terry Ehau said the project encouraged people to exercise daily and to reduce the amount of "white" food they ate - for example, choosing wholegrain bread instead of white bread.

In the second study, also published in the medical journal, 54.6 per cent of the 3534 post-menopausal women interviewed were at high risk for type 2 diabetes.

Of those interviewed, 38.6 per cent were overweight and 25.6 per cent obese, 32.5 per cent were physically inactive and 16.9 per cent had a family history of diabetes.

* Another study, using data from the Otago Diabetes Register, found diabetes was not mentioned on the death certificates of 45 per cent of 508 patients known to have the disease.

The researchers said if the impact of the diabetes epidemic on mortality was to be monitored, it should be recorded on death certificates irrespective of whether it was considered the underlying cause of death.

DIABETES AND DIET

A significant percentage of East Coast Maori and post-menopausal women interviewed in separate research projects are at risk of developing diabetes.

Common factors in the surveys included lack of exercise and poor diet.

One solution involves a "white" diet, which encourages people to switch from white to wholegrain bread.