Why is Britain turning into the under-40s diabetes capital of the world? | Devi Sridhar

Education about the risks of being overweight means nothing if people have no access to healthy food or places to exercise

Type 2 diabetes used to be a condition linked to ageing and getting older. It's the most common metabolic chronic condition in elderly people in the UK, and the likelihood of developing diabetes increases dramatically after the age of 45. People of south Asian heritage have a higher prevalence of type 2 diabetes, and I've grown up watching my grandparents and elderly relatives develop it, one after another. India is often referred to as the diabetes capital of the world", accounting for 17% of the total number of diabetes patients worldwide.

But in Britain, recent data has shown a major change in the profile of who is getting diabetes: it's now young people. The number of under-40s being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has risen 39% in the past six years. This was especially the case for people from deprived areas and those from black and south Asian backgrounds. In 2022, Diabetes UK highlighted that the number of children receiving treatment for type 2 diabetes in England and Wales had increased by over 50% over the previous five years.

Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh