NEWS In two separate studies, recently published in the journal The Lancet, researchers have analysed a large number of population-based studies and can now establish that the prevalence of diabetes or obesity in adults has steadily increased since 1975 and 1980, respectively. The studies covered research conducted at Umeå University in the MONICA study carried out in Swedish Norrbotten and Västerbotten.
“What’s described in the Lancet is a global increase in the number of people with diabetes and obesity – a worrying development,” says Stefan Söderberg, researcher at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, and researcher in charge of the MONICA study in Västerbotten.
“Even if Sweden hasn’t experienced such a dramatic increase in the last 40 years, the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in adults has increased here as well. We’ve seen this in the MONICA study. When it comes to diabetes alone, the number of people with diabetes around the world has nearly quadrupled in the period, taking population growth and increased life expectancy into account. This obviously has enormous effects on national economies, especially in the low- and middle income countries with high prevalence of diabetes and obesity.”
One of the published studies focused on global diabetes trends between 1980 and 2014. In total, 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million adult participants were analysed covering 146 countries. The results show that:
In the other study, global trends in Body Mass Index (BMI) between 1975 and 2014 was investigated. Researchers analysed 1,698 population-based studies with in total 19.2 million adult participants covering 186 countries. The results show that:
“The study on global weight trends show clearly that if the development continues, the probability that we meet the global targets on obesity will be zero. Until 2025, we will also see a frightening increase in the prevalence of the severely obese, up to 6 per cent in men and 9 per cent in women,” says Stefan Söderberg.
For three decades, researchers at Umeå University and the county councils in Västerbotten and Norrbotten have collected health data and registered the prevalence of stroke and heart attacks in the MONICA study (Monitoring of Trends and Determinants in Cardiovascular Disease).
The World Health Organisation initiated the MONICA study in the early 1980s with the aim to survey the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and its risk factors on a global scale. The northern Sweden MONICA study, which is a continuation of this project, is at present one of a few studies in the world that can specify how cardiovascular disease and diabetes as well as known risk factors for both of these, such as obesity, change over time. The MONICA study includes:
Read the article on global diabetes trends in the LancetRead the article on global weight trends among adults in the Lancet
Read more about the MONICA study
The Lancet, article: Worldwide trends in diabetes since 1980: a pooled analysis of 751 population-based studies with 4.4 million participants. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00618-8
The Lancet, article: Trends in adult body-mass index in 200 countries from 1975 to 2014: a pooled analysis of 1,698 population-based measurement studies with 19.2 million participants. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(16)30054-X
Stefan Söderberg, Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Cardiology, Umeå UniversityPhone: +46 90-785 18 46, +46 70-319 38 03
Email: stefan.soderberg@umu.se
Editor: Anna Lawrence