RIYADH — Two in 10 persons suffer from diabetes in Saudi Arabia and the prevalence of diabetes has reached an alarming rate of 20 percent, said Ian Campbell, a visiting professor currently engaged in giving lectures on diabetes in major Saudi cities.Campbell is Emeritus Professor of Medicine at the Bute School of Medicine, St. Andrews University, Scotland. He is also a co-editor of the British Journal of Diabetes and Vascular Disease.
Talking to the media before his lecture here Tuesday, Prof. Campbell said diabetes in Saudi Arabia is five times higher than the the four percent in Britain.
“Saudis are diagnosed with diabetes at the early age of 30 as compared with the age of 40 elsewhere in the world,” he said.
Prof. Campbell, however, lauded the Saudi government’s efforts to control the growing number of diabetes cases in the Kingdom.
He said the Kingdom has been engaged in a number of education programs which both raise public awareness and train healthcare professionals on how to deal with diabetics.
“The Ministry of Health is doing well by imparting education not only to the general public but by training trainers to prepare a workforce of healthcare professionals,” he said.
He said doctors are required to undergo a specialization program on diabetes, adding that he was amazed to have over 145 medical professionals that included doctors and other paramedics present in one of his lectures held in Jeddah, recently.
Prof Campbell said education, motivation and family support are three important factors that help society stay healthy. “Education is knowledge, which in turn motivates people to take healthy measures.
Family support also plays an equally important role, particularly when a person suffers from diabetes due to family history, he said.
Describing diabetes as a “silent killer” he said family history, lifestyle, diet and lack of exercise are factors that cause people to become diabetic at an early age.
Prof. Campbell said people should be wary of consuming junk food. He said junk food sandwiches contain fat and are high in calories. Each sandwich contains about 2,000 to 3,000 calories which would be sufficient for a day’s dietary requirement.
“If a person habitually eats junk food, he has a greater risk of being diagnosed with diabetes. The UK government has instructed fast food chains to label sandwiches with the amount of calories they contain,” he said. __
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