By Professor Roy Taylor

LONDON - A new study has found that almost half a billion people globally have diabetes, and most do not realise.

here is how to cut your risk factors

Type 2 diabetes is caused by an individual acquiring more fat than they personally can cope with. When it comes to this illness, there is no one size fits all approach to the question: how fat is too fat?

This week, a study by researchers at the University of Michigan found the number of people around the world who are living with diabetes has more than quadrupled since 1980. Today, almost half a billion people globally have the disease, and 90 per cent of them have the type 2 version. The frightening part is most don’t even realise it.

Our diets have changed dramatically in recent decades. As a result, both men and women are approximately 10kg heavier today than they were 30 years ago. The problem is not the hugely obese people; it’s that most people are walking around with a few extra kilograms they shouldn’t have.

The finger of blame often points towards ultra-processed foods, and rightly so: these foods are designed to fill us up less and leave us craving more. Thirty to 40 years ago, most people were cooking more meals from scratch, and our shift to prepared food has had a disastrous effect.

Exercise plays a part too, of course, but to a lesser degree. If a large man does a good workout, he could still regain all the calories burned by eating some chocolate. Exercise is important for keeping your weight healthy in the long-term, but nothing beats diet when it comes to shedding pounds fast.

So how do you know if you’re one of the unlucky many who’s walking around without knowing you are diabetic? The short answer is you don’t. This is a disease that creeps up on you silently, not making itself known until it’s well on its way. If you’re passing more urine than usual, feeling thirsty, tired, or succumbing to more skin infections, then yes you should get yourself checked. But by the time these red flags appear, it’s likely the disease has already been present a while.

It is, however, possible to know if you are at risk before the symptoms appear. If you come from a family with a history of the disease, you stand a fair chance of developing it if your weight goes above a certain level. It’s a genetic predisposition, but it never happens unless a person becomes too heavy for their own body.

So what can we do? We must understand that any weight gain after we’ve stopped growing is entirely fat. We can find out what percentage of our body weight is fat by using one of the machines many gyms and pharmacies have, which give you an instant reading. If you’re outside the healthy range (between nine and 20 per cent for men, and between 20 and 32 per cent for women) it’s time to take action.