Sydney: Skyrocketing rates of childhood obesity and type-2 diabetes in Asian countries are an economic and social disaster that could effect regional stability, leading health experts warned Wednesday.
Asia currently has around two-thirds of the world's type-2 diabetics – or around 90 million people, according to Paul Zimmet, the chairman of the International Obesity Task Force.
Four out of five of the world's most diabetic populations are also in Asia - including India, China, Pakistan and Japan - and the number of diabetics in Asia is set to increase to 120 million by 2010, said Zimmet, citing recent data from the World Heath Organization.
By 2025, the number of Asians with the disease could increase to 198 million, he said.
The rate of childhood obesity among Asian children is increasing by about 1 per cent each year, roughly the same rate as seen in Australia, the United States and Britain, according to the task force's regional director, Tim Gill.
''It's a social and economic disaster,'' said Zimmet.
While many Asian countries are busy gearing up to deal with the possible threat of bird flu, Zimmet said, they are ignoring a looming health crisis caused by diabetes.
Most Asian countries ''don't have the health care systems'' to meet the cost of treating diabetes and its related illnesses, such as strokes, kidney failure, heart disease and blindness, he said.
And beyond the rise of health care, Zimmet warned, the diabetes epidemic could have dire consequences for the social and economic stability of many Asian countries.
''We're seeing type-2 diabetes in children and they're being inadequately treated,'' he said. ''So they're going to have heart troubles, kidney failure in the early 20s and 30s, and that will affect work force productivity.''
Diabetes can also affect fertility rates, Zimmet said, possibly leading to changes in birth patterns and population levels.
''The actual productivity of countries will fall,'' he said.
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