Growing waistlines increase diabetes risk

Every hour China sees 115 new cases of diabetes, Chinese scientists and doctors revealed at the 13th Annual Conference of the Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) in Zhengzhou, Henan province, last week.

Home to about 41 million diabetics, China has the world's second-largest diabetic population, after India. Also, those with Type-2 diabetics in China are much younger (aged between 20 and 59) than their counterparts in the West, according to a 2007 survey by the International Diabetes Federation.

The secretion of insulin is lower among Asians than among whites, putting Asians at a higher risk of diabetes, says Jaakko Tuomilehto, professor of Public Health at the University of Helsinki, Finland.