British Dietetic Association playing their part in the increasing type two diabetes epidemic.

The number of adults with diabetes has quadrupled worldwide in under four decades to 422 million, and the condition is fast becoming a major problem in poorer countries, a World Health Organization study showed on Wednesday.

In one of the largest studies to date of diabetes trends, the researchers said ageing populations and rising levels of obesity across the world mean diabetes is becoming "a defining issue for global public health".

Type 2 diabetes is a long-term condition characterized by insulin resistance. Patients can manage their diabetes with medication and diet, but the disease is often life-long and is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation.

"Obesity is the most important risk factor for type 2 diabetes and our attempts to control rising rates of obesity have so far not proved successful," said Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London who led the WHO research.

Published in The Lancet journal ahead of the United Nations World Health Day on April 7, the study used data from 4.4 million adults in different world regions to estimate age-adjusted diabetes prevalence for 200 countries.

It found that between 1980 and 2014, diabetes has become more common among men than women, and rates of diabetes rose significantly in many low and middle income countries, including China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt and Mexico.

Margaret Chan, the WHO's director-general, said the findings showed an urgent need to address unhealthy diets and lifestyles around the world.

"If we are to make any headway in halting the rise in diabetes, we need to rethink our daily lives: to eat healthily, be physically active, and avoid excessive weight gain," she said in a statement from the WHO's Geneva headquarters.

"Even in the poorest settings, governments must ensure that people are able to make these healthy choices and that health systems are able to diagnose and treat people with diabetes."

The study found that northwestern Europe has the lowest rates of diabetes among women and men, with age-adjusted prevalence lower than 4 percent among women and at around 5 to 6 percent among men in Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Belgium and the Netherlands.

No country saw any meaningful decrease in diabetes prevalence, it found.

More on this story here. my bold text.

Unhealthy diets and unhealthy foods are arguably the most profitable businesses in the world. The diet industry alone is worth billions per year. Mass produced poor nutrient foods trillions, the same for big pharma. It's a vicious circle from the cradle to the grave for countless people. The sad fact is, most people do not have a clue regarding what constitutes a healthy diet, including the majority of dietitians.

For decades we have been told saturated fats are a health hazard, these are the fats man has ate for thousands of years, some from the beginning of the human race. Saturated fat is found in meat, fish, eggs, butter etc. and many other natural whole foods. The mainstay of official dietary guidelines across the world, and continues to the present day, has been to reduce saturated fats and increase carbohydrates. This equates to eat less fat and eat more sugar. How many people realise all carbohydrates turn to sugar once digested.

The main source of carbohydrates, for most people, come from potatoes, rice, pasta, bread, cereals, and baked products, such as pastry, biscuits and cakes etc. Almost without exception, if you study almost any data source, you will find as the consumption of healthy natural saturated fats has gone down, the consumption of unhealthy man made fats, and highly processed factory made high carbohydrate food has gone up. The increase in obesity rates and the often linked type two diabetes, matches perfectly. 

"The Eatwell Guide has replaced the Eatwell plate and continues to define the government’s advice on a healthy balanced diet." UK Government. This Eatwell guide features on the British Dietetic Associations advice for type two diabetics here. "The BDA is the largest association of food and nutrition professionals in the UK and is the only body in the UK representing the whole of the dietetic workforce" BDA The Eatwell guide, is a very long way from a healthy diet for anyone, let alone a diabetic, and illustrates perfectly, why obesity and type two diabetes rates go forever upwards.

For a very detailed description, outlining why the Eatwell guide is anything but a healthy diet, please visit the site of Dr. Zoe Harcombe PhD here.

Eddie