Number of diabetics almost quadruple globally to 422 mn between 1980 and 2014

The number of people with diabetes worldwide had increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014 and the global prevalence of diabetes among adults over 18 years of age  had risen from 4.7 per cent in 1980 to 8.5 per cent in 2014. Diabetes prevalence had been increasing more rapidly in middle and low income countries.

Diabetes had emerged as a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke and lower limb amputation. In 2012, diabetes accounted for an estimated 1.5 million while another 2.2 million deaths were attributed to high blood glucose. India currently had over 62 million diagnosed diabetics making it the diabetic capital of the world.

What is baffling medical professionals is why Kerala had acquired the dubious distinction of becoming the diabetic capital of India.

One reason suggested was the high consumption of starch rich tapioca. For a small state with a population of 33 million, Kerala had 8 million diabetics, despite the state's excellent macro health indicators and high levels of literacy. 

Obesity was one of the major risk factors for diabetes, yet there had been little research focused on this risk factor across India. Despite India's lower overweight and obesity rates, there was a higher prevalence of diabetes in the country as against western countries suggesting that diabetes might occur at a much lower body mass index (BMI) in Indians as compared with Europeans.

Meanwhile, the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as cardiovascular diseases (CVD) or heart diseases, diabetes and cancer, would cost India a whopping $6.2 trillion during the period 2012-2030, according to the Global report on Urban Health released by the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).

CVD and cancer were now among the two leading causes of death in urban India and the poor population living in urban areas were also affected by the NCDs, with India's urban slum population reporting a higher prevalence of such diseases than the country's national average. According to the WHO 30.9 per cent of the Indian population lived in urban areas in 2010 and nearly 104.7 million people lived in urban slums.