Blog: Halt the Rise. Beat Diabetes.

It’s World Health Day, and this year’s campaign is focused on the global rise of diabetes. Health and Wellbeing Services at St Mary’s University, Twickenham are looking at how we can stay healthy and prevent Type 2 diabetes. Around 350 million people worldwide have diabetes, a number likely to more than double in the next 20 years. Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, gives us the energy that we need to live. If it cannot get into the cells to be burned as energy, sugar builds up to harmful levels in the blood. There are 2 main forms of the diabetes. People with type 1 diabetes typically make none of their own insulin and therefore require insulin injections to survive. People with type 2 diabetes, the form that comprises some 90% of cases, usually produce their own insulin, but not enough or they are unable to use it properly. People with type 2 diabetes are typically overweight and sedentary, 2 conditions that raise a person’s insulin needs. Many cases of Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by making healthy lifestyle choices, such as:

• Maintaining a healthy body weight – for adults a healthy body weight is categorised as a BMI of between 18.5 – 25. You can check yours here: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/loseweight/Pages/BodyMassIndex.aspx

• Engaging in regular physical activity – for adults it is recommended to undertake at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity such as cycling or fast walking every week, and  strength exercises on two or more days a week that work all the major muscles (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms).  https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/moving#IAYc1z7u0PzDBOMS.97

• Consuming a healthy diet – A new EatWell plate has been released, which has been updated and refreshed, taking into account all of the new evidence and research findings.

Image courtesy of NHS Choices, larger version available here. If you’re unsure as to how healthy your current lifestyle is, take the One You quiz now to help you get back to a healthier version of you: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/hay#tYTVRX6jXuy4aR0a.97 Health and Wellbeing Services at St Mary’s University, Twickenham offers individual and group health checks and training and workshop packages on a variety of health related topics. Our staff are experts in behaviour change, nutrition, public health and physical activity who strive to create healthier businesses and communities. For more information, please visit our website or to make a booking, contact us on 020 8240 4070 or email health@stmarys.ac.uk