For Asians, just looking at Body Mass Index (BMI) levels is not a good enough measure of obesity. Compared to our Caucasian counterparts, Asians tend to store fat around our internal organs.
Because of this, it may not be obvious if we are at risk of diabetes because we have BMI levels in the ‘normal’ range and we don’t ‘look’ obese.
With a projection of 1 million diabetics in Singapore by 2050, it is important to start now and make healthy living our goal from an early age.
“There has been a shift of emphasis to prevention, rather than management,” says Dean, Professor Chia Kee Seng, “And the good news is public awareness has risen remarkably.”
Still, he predicts that this war will play out over decades, rather than years, so we need to start leading healthy lives now to lower the risk of developing the disease in future.
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