Diabetes levels hit crisis point

Saturday 5th June 2010, 3:00PM BST.

THE full impact of Jersey’s obesity epidemic is revealed today as soaring diabetes levels show no sign of slowing.

Nearly 5,000 people now have the condition in the Island, and Diabetes Jersey president Dr Peter Bates has warned that cases are increasing by 15 per cent each year.

He said that Jersey was still ten years behind the desperate situation in the United States, but was catching up fast, with Islanders’ unhealthy lifestyles at the root of the problem.

‘There are two reasons why diabetes is increasing,’ said Dr Bates. ‘The first is that people are living longer, and the longer you live the more likely you are to develop diabetes. The second is down to lifestyle, because the population as a whole is becoming heavier.’

• See Saturday’s JEP for full story.

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