According to the report, in 2022-23, 4.4 million people were diagnosed with diabetes
"Bold action is needed to reverse the rising trend in type 2 diabetes, overturn our broken food environment, and give every child and young person the best
possible chance to grow up in good health," retorts Chief Executive of Diabetes UK.
A newly published report, Reverse the Trend - Reducing type 2 diabetes in young people, reveals a troubling 40 per cent rise in type 2 diabetes diagnoses among
younger people from 2016-17 to 2022-23.
The report highlights that almost 168,000 individuals under 40 in the UK are currently living with type 2 diabetes, an increase of over 47,000 since 2016-17.
Historically associated with older adults, type 2 diabetes is now increasing more rapidly among younger populations, particularly affecting those from deprived
areas and Black and South Asian communities.
A new study has revealed that UK adolescents get around two-thirds of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have been linked to the
rising levels of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer.
The research, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR)'s School for Public Health Research, was published in the European Journal of
Nutrition.
Ultra-processed foods are often characterized by poor dietary quality due to their high content of added sugars, saturated fats, and salt, along with lower
levels of fibre, protein, and micronutrients.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol, analysed data from four-day food diaries of almost 3,000 adolescents, sourced
from the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey.
After examining trends in the UK between 2008/9 and 2018/19, the researchers found that UPFs accounted for 66 per cent of adolescents' energy intake on average
during this period.
Amid the rapid rise in semaglutide usage, a study has suggested a potential risk of a rare eye condition associated with the weight loss drug.
Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA), is available under the brand name Ozempic (by Novo Nordisk) in a lower-dose form for managing
type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and as Wegovy (also by Novo Nordisk) in a higher-dose form for weight management in patients with high body mass indexes.
Anecdotal evidence has indicated that semaglutide might be linked to nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION).
To investigate this potential connection, researchers in the United States analysed data over a six-year period from nearly 17,000 neuro-ophthalmology patients at
Massachusetts Eye and Ear Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, all of whom had no prior history of NAION.