Researchers find poor diet may contribute to type 2 diabetes

The study was published in the journal ‘Nature Medicine’.

The analysis, which looked at data from 1990 and 2018, provides valuable insight into which dietary factors are driving the burden of type 2 diabetes by world region.

Of the 11 dietary factors considered, three were highly contributory to the rising global incidence of type 2 diabetes: insufficient intake of whole grains, an excess of refined rice and wheat, and an excessive intake of processed meat. Factors such as drinking too much fruit juice and not eating enough non-starchy vegetables, nuts, or seeds had little effect on new cases of the disease.

“Our study shows that poor carbohydrate quality is a major driver of diet-attributable type 2 diabetes globally, with significant variation by nation and over time,” said senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition. And Friedman calls the dean for policy at the school. , “These new findings reveal important areas of national and global focus to improve nutrition and reduce the devastating burden of diabetes.”

Type 2 diabetes is characterized by the resistance of the body’s cells to insulin. All of the 184 countries included in the Nature Medicine study showed an increase in type 2 diabetes cases between 1990 and 2018, representing an increasing burden on individuals, families and health care systems.

The research team fed their model with information from the Global Dietary Database, as well as population demographics from multiple sources, estimates of global type 2 diabetes incidence, and data about how food choices affect people with obesity and obesity. Several published papers affect type 2 diabetes.

The analysis revealed that poor diet is causing a greater proportion of total type 2 diabetes incidence globally in men versus women, young versus older adults and urban versus rural residents.

Regionally, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia – particularly Poland and Russia, where diets are rich in red meat, processed meat and potatoes – had the largest number of diet-linked type 2 diabetes cases. Incidence was also higher in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially in Colombia and Mexico, which has been attributed to high consumption of sugary drinks, processed meats, and low intake of whole grains.

Regions where diet had less impact on type 2 diabetes incidence include South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa – although sub-Saharan Africa saw the largest increase in type 2 diabetes due to poor diet between 1990 and 2018 Went. Of the 30 most populous countries studied, India, Nigeria and Ethiopia had the fewest cases of type 2 diabetes related to unhealthy diets.

First author Meghan O’Hearn says, “Left unchecked and only projected to increase, type 2 diabetes will continue to impact population health, economic productivity, health care system capacity, and health disparities around the world.” She conducted this research as a PhD candidate at the Friedman School and currently serves as the Impact Director of Food Systems for the Future, a nonprofit and for-profit fund that supports innovative food and agricultural enterprises with minimal and enables improvements in nutrition outcomes. low income communities. “These findings may help inform nutritional priorities for physicians, policy makers and private sector actors as they encourage healthy dietary choices that address this global pandemic.”

Other recent studies estimate that 40 percent of type 2 diabetes cases globally are attributed to sub-optimal diet, which is less than the 70 percent reported in the Nature Medicine paper. The research team attributes this to new information in their analysis, such as the inclusion for the first time of refined grains, which were one of the top contributors to the burden of diabetes; and updated data on dietary habits based on national individual-level dietary surveys rather than farm estimates. The investigators also note that they presented the uncertainty of these new estimates, which may be refined as new data emerge.