Type 2 Diabetes and Mexico—A Dismal Outlook

Researchers have recently released estimates on the future of
type 2 diabetes in Mexico, and the numbers don’t look good. If those estimates become reality, 1 in 3 or even 1 in 2 Mexican adults could be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime.

This data, published in Preventive Medicine (2015; 81, 445–50),
was derived from the Mexico National Health and Nutrition Survey, which included questionnaire responses from people in 50,000 homes. According to that data, type 2 diabetes rates increased from 7% to 8.9% between 2006 and 2012. The researchers suggested that incidence of the disease likely doubled roughly every 10 years from 1960 through 2012. Finally, they determined that type 2 diabetes rates could rise
to 13.7%–22.5%—or 15–25 million people—by 2050.

The authors issued a stark call to action:
“Diabetes prevalence in Mexico will continue to increase even if current incidence rates remain unchanged,” they warned. “Continued implementation of policies to reduce obesity rates, increase physical activity, and improve population diet, in tandem with diabetes surveillance and other risk control measures,
is paramount to substantially reduce the burden of diabetes in Mexico.”