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Type 2 diabetes runs in families
Australians are being alerted to be aware of their family history of type 2 diabetes.
Under the slogan ‘type 2 diabetes runs in families’, the message was delivered by Diabetes Australia at the nationwide launch of Diabetes Awareness Week on Sunday 13 July.
The charity also released the results of a new national Family History Awareness survey that found that 97 per cent of people who have type 2 diabetes in their family do not believe their children are very much at risk of developing the disease.
The survey revealed there is widespread lack of awareness among all Australians about the risks to family members if someone in the family has type 2 diabetes.
While 75 per cent of Australians understand that obesity and overweight are risk factors for type 2 diabetes, only 25 per cent link family history with the disease.
It is estimated that people who have both parents with type 2 diabetes have a one in two chance of developing it.
Speaking at the launch of the campaign in Sydney, Dr Neville Howard, President of Diabetes Australia-NSW, said the organisation had expected that the community in general might be unaware of the link between family history and diabetes.
However, he said “I was quite frankly surprised to find out that most of those people who had diabetes in the family did not think their children would be at risk.
“The survey shows that we need to alert people to realise that family history also means a future risk for children whose parents or grandparents have type 2 diabetes.”
Dr Howard says people can’t change their history but the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be reduced if everyone in the family adopts a healthy lifestyle, based around increased physical activity and eating healthily.
To highlight the impact of all forms of diabetes on the family, the Sydney launch brought together people who had type 1 diabetes and people with type 2 diabetes.
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Read Dr Neville Howard's speech |
The Family History Awareness survey, conducted by Jones Donald Strategy Partners, found more than half of the people questioned had diabetes in their family, mainly their parents, yet only one in 14 people considered themselves very much at risk of the disease.
Only one in five people surveyed said they would do be prepared to do anything to reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. If they do plan to take action in the next six months, they say they will exercise regularly and change their diet.
Gina Fletcher of Sydney never thought her 13-year-old son, Thomas, was at risk of type 2 diabetes before he developed it last year.
Gina and her husband Maurice do not have type 2 diabetes but Maurice’s mother and four of her brothers and sisters had type 2 diabetes and developed complications.
“I didn’t even think to check whether Thomas had a family history of type 2 diabetes,” Gina says.
The mother of two is making sure Thomas leads a healthy active lifestyle and she’s now also aware of the risk to her other son, 11-year-old Nicholas.
“To make sure Thomas has good diabetes management to reduce his risk of complications, he has lost a little weight through daily exercise and playing in the rugby union team at school,” Gina says.
The Fletcher family is just one of many families with similar stories.
While most Australian’s are not aware that having a family history of diabetes is a major risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes, some people have made the link but only after they developed the disease. Read about Garry Atkin, Christine Herlihy and Helena Smith, who hope their real life stories will help alert everyone to the need to know their family history of type 2 diabetes the steps to help reduce their risk of developing the disease. |
Dr Howard says people should discuss their family history with their General Practitioner.
Diabetes Australia-NSW has made a television community service announcement informing people that a family history of type 2 diabetes puts children at risk.
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To view another Diabetes Awareness Week TV commercial or for further information, visit www.diabetesinfamilies.com.au.
Diabetes Australia-NSW has also produced a set of four booklets to tell people how type 1 and type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes affect the family and inform them about lifestyle choices and management of the disease.
The information can be downloaded below.
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Download our Diabetes in the Family booklets (PDFs): |
Maintaining a healthy weight, by being physically active and healthy eating, can reduce a person’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to 60 per cent.
Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions with one Australian being diagnosed every seven minutes. Diabetes Australia-NSW has released the latest Australian diabetes statistics which show that about 900,000 Australians have been diagnosed with all forms of the disease, a 120 per cent increase, since 2000.
In New South Wales, 321,000 people have been diagnosed with diabetes in 2008, a 100 per cent increase since 2000.
The statistics are part of the latest edition of the Diabetes in NSW Atlas. The 2008 Update Online version shows prevalence rates in New South Wales, according to Local Government Areas.
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