To curb diabetes, make cities conducive to exercise – group

Healthy living to prevent diabetes is not merely a personal choice, and governments need to step in through better urban planning, a group leading the observance of World Diabetes Day said Monday. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF), which marks World Diabetes Day along with the World Health Organization on Nov. 14, emphasized the need for environments conducive to physical activity, for example, to prevent diabetes – a lifestyle disease brought about by lack of exercise and poor diet, among other things. Experts have estimated that worldwide, diabetes kills one person every seven seconds, with the number of people living with the disease having soared to 366 million. "Social and technological changes in the past decade have created physical, work, community, and leisure environments that are sedentary and based on high energy, low nutrient diets," the IDF said in its Global Diabetes Plan for 2011-2021. The group then said authorities should implement “major policy changes" to sustain healthy levels of weight and physical activity. “For example, well-designed towns and cities underpinned by efficient public transport and food systems that encourage physical activity and healthy eating can help reduce risk factors for type 2 diabetes and many other health risks," the IDF explained. Policy-makers should also implement rules and programs to prevent physical activity in settings like schools and places of work, said the group. The IDF said governments should establish “regulatory frameworks that remove barriers to and promote physical activity," such as those that ensure sidewalks and bicycle lanes. Requiring ‘political will’ To create environments conducive to healthy living, however, is easier said than done in the Philippines, said University of the Philippines professor Dr. Antonio Dans in a talk before a group of journalists earlier this month. "It would take a lot of political will," said Dans, noting that moves to promote healthy living will likely encounter opposition from the affected industries. "They’re going to face the sugar industry, they’re going to face the tobacco industry, they’re going to face the developers," explained Dans, who wrote the study titled "The Rise of Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases in Southeast Asia: Time for Action." Also, roads in Metro Manila alone remain dangerous for bikers, an official of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority admitted. Meanwhile, in an interview on GMA News TV’s “News To Go" last Friday, endocrinologist Dr. Joy Fontanilla explained other personal risk factors for diabetes.