KEY POINTS:
Sixty per cent of the Counties-Manukau population either have or are at risk of having type-2 diabetes.
The discovery came from a new Counties Manukau District Health Board study of 2520 people aged 16 or over.
Of those people, 7 per cent already had diagnosed diabetes, while 53 per cent were classed as "at risk".
Study leader Dr Brandon Orr Walker, medical director of the health board's Let's Beat Diabetes programme, said the at-risk figure was "shocking".
Being at risk didn't guarantee diabetes, he said, and behaviours could be adopted by people to lower their risk, he said.
But the results showed while people were interested in their health and were aware of the health risk that came from obesity, they were less clear about what they were doing improve their health.
"People have cottoned on to this message that exercise is important to keeping healthy. But things such as portion size is not even on people's radar. They eat what's given to them, in the size they buy it," Dr Orr Walker said.
That was potentially one of the easiest habits to change, as it didn't need people to change their diet or buying habits - just how much of their purchased food they consumed.
The study also highlighted many people under-estimated their own weight.
In the survey, 12 per cent classed themselves as obese, and 29 per cent as overweight, based on what they thought a doctor would say. However, actual weights from the New Zealand Health Survey showed the real obesity level was almost double that, at 23 per cent.
Real overweight levels were also substantially higher than perceived levels, at 35 per cent.
For Maori, only 15 per cent considered themselves obese, against an actual figure of 30 per cent.
About 27 per cent of Pacific people considered themselves obese: 40 per cent actually were.
Dr Orr Walker said the study was performed to help the board understand their region's diabetes issues.
Strategies could now be developed based on the findings, such as the under-acknowledgement of people's risk levels, he said.
People needed to recognise they were subjects of the obesity message, and apply that realisation to their lives.
Whether the region was winning the battle against diabetes would have to wait "until the fifteenth round", Dr Orr Walker said.
"But we're putting up a good fight."
WHAT STUDY SAID
* 7 per cent of people questioned were diagnosed with diabetes.
* A further 53 per cent were classified as at risk.
* Only half of the obese people questioned believed they were obese.
* 91 per cent of people thought being more active contributed.
* Just 31 per cent saw eating less as a factor in reducing weight.
