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Shashi JOGANAH Principal nutritionist for the ministry of Health
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Shashi JOGANAH Principal nutritionist for the ministry of Health
What is the exact extent of diabetes in Mauritius? How many people suffer from the disease?</B>
We are preparing a study for Mauritius and Rodrigues and tests are being made. We should soon obtain the results. Our figures date from 1998; the prevalence of diabetes then was 18.4% for men and 20.6% for women. Although we don’t have the exact figures, our “caravanes de santé” go through villages everyday and we’re getting new cases everyday. But the 1998 statistics are already alarming. We had an average of 19.5% people affected by the disease, which means one out of five Mauritians. We are one of the most affected countries worldwide.
Is there a particular reason why women are more affected than men?</B>
Diabetes is due to several reasons but the main one is obesity. As there are more obese women than men, there is undeniably a link.
What are the other reasons then?</B>
As I just said, obesity is the main one. So it has to do with the way people eat. We live in an “obesogenic” environment; for instance, there are fast foods everywhere and no healthy food choices to them. People don’t have much time to cook – particularly for lunch. They thus go out to eat something quickly. But all you can get is fried or sweet stuff full of saturated fats, which contribute to diabetes. But obesity is not the only cause of diabetes. There are other factors such as genetic or ethnic reasons. People of Asian or African origin are more inclined to develop the disease than others. We don’t really know the cause yet but statistics have proved it.
Last but not least, the lack of physical activity is a major cause for diabetes. In today’s world, most people travel by bus, car or van. As soon as they get home, they sit in front of television and don’t move much.
What are the authorities doing to try and reverse the trend?</B>
There is a big work done to sensitise people on diabetes: these campaigns take place in crèches, primary and secondary schools and in villages throughout the country. The aim is to make children and parents conscious of the problem very early. Tests and referrals to doctors, hospitals or specific centres are done in crèches and schools to try and prevent the disease from developing.
Then, talks are organised in women and health centres to explain to people how to eat well and to increase their physical activity. These are the modifiable aspects of obesity and we have to emphasise on them. For diabetes of genetic origin, we can’t do much as prevention. So we have to concentrate on the other aspects. We also give special recipes to people for “healthy alternative” foods, how to make a “briani” with no oil, for instance.
The new regulation aimed at reducing the percentage of saturated fats in snacks is one of the measures taken by the ministry of Health to try and solve the alarming problem of diabetes in Mauritius.
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