New website addresses Asian diabetes epidemic

EXPERTS from the Harvard School of Public Health and the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health of the National University of Singapore warn that the rapidly emerging diabetes epidemic in Asia has the potential to overwhelm health care systems, undermine economic growth, and inflict unprecedented levels of disability on the world’s most populous continent.

To help put a stop to this deadly epidemic, new website—the Asian Diabetes Prevention Initiative—offers authoritative, science-based information to stop the spread of type 2 diabetes in the region. The joint initiative between the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health (SSHSPH) at the National University of Singapore (NUS), gives the public, health professionals, and public health practitioners quick and easy access to information about the causes of type 2 diabetes, its dire consequences, and what can and must be done to decrease the prevalence of this disease in Asia.

“Asia has become the epicenter of the global diabetes epidemic,” said Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH and co-editorial director of the new website. “By providing the latest advances in research on epidemiology and state-of-the-art practices for diabetes prevention through lifestyle and environmental changes, this website will raise the public’s awareness about this ‘silent’ epidemic and spur urgent actions to address it.”

HSPH and SSHSPH nutrition experts, including those behind the popular and authoritative websites, The Nutrition Source and The Obesity Prevention, created the website accepts.  The Asian Diabetes Prevention Initiative website accepts no subsidies or commercial support from any industry, so that it can deliver an unbiased perspective on diabetes prevention. Among several key features:

> A thorough, awareness-raising introduction to diabetes in Asia—from which countries have the highest prevalence to why Asians are at higher risk.
> Concise summaries on the causes of type 2 diabetes—giving people the information they need to monitor their risk for diabetes and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle.
> Strategies for diabetes prevention in key settings—giving families and community leaders roadmaps to help prevent diabetes in their homes and communities.
> A quick and convenient diabetes risk calculator—giving individuals a personal estimate of their risk of developing type 2 diabetes, so those who are most at risk can start changing their habits before it’s too late.

Asia-centric information

Diabetes is an important health concern in Asia, especially because Asian populations are more vulnerable to developing type 2 diabetes at lower body mass indexes (BMIs) than people of European ancestry. Much of the information on diabetes prevention on the internet, however focuses on Western settings, for example, fodziez