Half Thais know they have diabetes

[rooster59]

Half Thais know they have diabetes

BANGKOK: Half of the Thai people afflicted with diabetes do not know they have the ailments, said Dr Petch Rod-aree, secretary-general of Diabetes Association of Thailand, on Friday.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, 387 million people have been diagnosed with diabetes. As for Thailand, 6.9 percent of Thai men above 15 are afflicted with diabetes, 10.1 percent of Thais aged 45-59 are afflicted; and 3.4 percent of people aged 30-44 are afflicted.

But half of these people do not know they have diabetes, said Dr Petch.

He blamed obesity as the major cause of diabetes. A recent survey shows that 30 percent of Thai men and 40 women of Thai women are overweight hence putting them at risk of becoming obese.

However, he pointed out that the risk could reduce if they keep exercising on regular basis, change their lifestyle and eating habits.

“Everyone can protect themselves from getting diabetes by exercising on regular basis, reporting for regular medical checkups and adopting healthy eating,” he suggested.

Full story: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/half-thais-know-they-have-diabetes

-- Thai PBS 2015-11-13

[Somtamnication]

Well, at my school, the kids are prohibited from buying coke and sprite (only teachers can buy them).

But, it is ok to buy their milo, bread poured with condensed milk, cakes and cookies, and sticks with sweets on them and and and...

Sigh.

[maewang99]

there's "ice" in ice coffee, but the other stuff ain't mostly coffee... and not seen as such a bad habit. this in a world increasingly of simple platitudes on every subject under the sun, instead of thinking. another one alcohol. it's as if any amount is bad for you, and some amount surely is... but ice coffee... heh.... nothing wrong with that! ho ho ho!!!

Edited November 13, 2015 by maewang99

[jaltsc]

" Half of the Thai people afflicted with diabetes do not know they have the ailments..."

And even if they did know, that would not stop them from consuming large amounts of sugar and other simple carbohydrates. It would not prevent them from fattening their kids in the warped perception that an obese child somehow equates to prosperity, and brings much face to the family. It never ceases to amaze me how people make such a fuss over obese children and tell them how cute they are, thus reinforcing their unhealthy lifestyle. Compound the unhealthy diet with children riding motorbikes as soon as they are physically able, and then playing video games all day instead of getting even a minimal amount of exercise, and you have the makings of a future epidemic greater than what we have today.

For whatever reason, science and education do not seem to trump old wives tales and age old superstitions about what is healthy. Do not expect this trend of obesity and resulting diabetes to go away soon.

Edited November 13, 2015 by jaltsc

[ukrules]

Being overweight is a symptom of diabetes isn't it ?

I think the issue is one of detection, when they realise someone has a long running case of diabetes type 2 it's probably been there to some extent for many years, hence the weight gain.

[retarius]

It's sugar stupid! The coca-colonisation of the population. Too many sugary drinks (try buying sugar free sodas), too much sugar used in cooking, sugar in bread, etcetc.

[chiang mai]

Sugar is only a part of the diabetic picture, carbohydrate heavy meals, the wrong types of carbohydrates, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity all contribute to the problem.

Edited November 14, 2015 by chiang mai

[Choctastic]

It's sugar stupid! The coca-colonisation of the population. Too many sugary drinks (try buying sugar free sodas), too much sugar used in cooking, sugar in bread, etcetc.

No. 'Sugar-free' sodas have aspartame or fructose corn syrup. The rise in diabetes and epidemic of obesity follows the introduction of these toxic chemicals. Now difficult to avoid them.

[deckape]

“Everyone can protect themselves from getting diabetes by exercising on regular basis, reporting for regular medical checkups and adopting healthy eating,” he suggested.

I watched this documentary called 'Fed UP' literally yesterday. It's premise is that diet is actually much, much more important than exercise. Sugars and simple carbs are poison.

Anyone who wants to shed a few pounds the easy way could try the diet I have been on for 2 months. Fruit, vegetables, chicken, fish and nuts. Nothing out of a can, box or bottle. You will be sick for a day or two as your body adjusts to not having that sugar but after that you will feel great. No need to be hungry on this diet, and the nature of the hunger itself is different, as your blood sugar will remain steadier. I have lost 25 pounds in 2 months on this diet without much exercise, and I eat whenever I am hungry.

[Farang99]

For a misleading headline that about takes the biscuit! "Half Thais know they have diabetes". What they should have said is that half the Thais who have diabetes know it, implying that half those who are diabetic do not know it - a long way from half Thais (more than 30 million people) having diabetes!

Edited November 14, 2015 by metisdead
Oversize bold font reset to normal.

[MrBrad]

The headline is grossly mesleading.

Half Thais know they have diabetes

is not the same as

Half Thais who have diabetes don't know they have diabetes

[Cake Monster]

And Thai buyers of commodities only recently bought an absolute mountain of sugar on the world market due to the low prices.

No doubt this will all end up in every single food that is sold, along with the massive amount of MSG, that makes you eat more.

[craigt3365]

Well, at my school, the kids are prohibited from buying coke and sprite (only teachers can buy them). But, it is ok to buy their milo, bread poured with condensed milk, cakes and cookies, and sticks with sweets on them and and and... Sigh.

I was just in Hua Hin walking around just as a big school was letting students out for the day. Just outside the school was a looooooong line of vendors selling all sorts of crap. We were shocked. Lots of sugary stuff, including tables loaded with all sorts of pop drinks. Red, green, blue, etc. No Coke, no brand name drinks.

Many tables selling all sorts of deep fried junk. Even deep fried hot dogs! Unreal.

And of course, lots of fat kids walking around. It was truly shocking. Pretty much every kid we saw had some sort of junk food in their hand. The one and only cart selling fruit had zero customers.

[h90]

It's sugar stupid! The coca-colonisation of the population. Too many sugary drinks (try buying sugar free sodas), too much sugar used in cooking, sugar in bread, etcetc.

No. 'Sugar-free' sodas have aspartame or fructose corn syrup. The rise in diabetes and epidemic of obesity follows the introduction of these toxic chemicals. Now difficult to avoid them.

fructose corn syrup is sugar....so a sugar free something has no fructose.

Aspartame is for sure more healthy than sugar...but I don't get why people need so much sweet. Buy soda water instead and squeeze a lemon in it....

[yoon01]

"He blamed obesity as the major cause of diabetes"

No wonder, he's not going to tell you it is the sugar in the diet. Processed carbohydrates lead to insuline resistance which will make you fat. Diabetes type 2 will follow because of the insuline resistance of your body. IOW, you are now carbohydrate intolerant. It can be reversed but not if they look at it this way. Cut the carbs, eat more healthy fats!

Go have a look at every Thai school. Sugar Rules!

[yoon01]

The 1933 Farmer's Cyclopedia of Livestock.

Quote:

"Skim milk is one of the most valuable adjuncts of the farm for fattening swine. Used with corn, kafir corn or any of the common grain by-products an almost ideal ration is formed. Hogs like it and relish rations mixed with it. As a re- sult of five years' work in feeding skim milk at the New York station at Cornell, it is concluded that the most economical returns are secured when the milk is fed with corn meal. "

page 545.

Any idea what this means?

Hint:

[godden]

Why can't i buy slimline tonic, that tells a story in it's self.

[Fore Man]

A few added thoughts...we all need to watch the insidious creep of any form of sugar into our diets. It's not just sucrose or fructose that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sugar is present in milk as lactose, in all fruits as fructose and in honey. It's an ingredient in almost all baked goods. And as many have already mentioned, iced coffee and espresso drinks made with sweetened milk are quietly but steadily turning young people into diabetics. Most health authorities have lowered their recommended daily intake of all sugars to just 50-grams. That's the equivalent of 12.5 teaspoons a day of sugar. It doesn't take much to overload your diet and undermine your health. Sugar is jet fuel for cancers and can cause early onset of liver disease. Read labels, even though most are covered over here with Thai translations. Learn how to translate them...it's your health at stake.

The epidemic hitting Thailand will only be overcome through education at the grass roots level and in every grade in the school system. Accurate and hard-hitting messages need to be perpetuated in social media where so many Thais spend many waking hours raptly reading.

To wean yourself off of sugar-laden drinks, try making a simple drink using soda water, squeezed limes and ginger tea or fresh/powdered ginger (look for the no sugar added variety). Add a sprig or two of fresh mint. I mix up a batch and keep it in a large plastic container with a pour spout. It has practically zero calories and is a great tonic that you can sip while at your desk or watching TV. Google up recipes on how to make it or simply experiment yourself.

Edited November 14, 2015 by Fore Man

[Canuk23]

It's sugar stupid! The coca-colonisation of the population. Too many sugary drinks (try buying sugar free sodas), too much sugar used in cooking, sugar in bread, etcetc.

Unfortunately sugar free sodas are worst, yes the problem is to much sugar in Thai foods and it's everywhere even on tables to put in your food,

but another problem is to much rice and noodles don't forget the starches convert to sugars also.

[Fore Man]

A few added thoughts...we all need to watch the insidious creep of any form of sugar into our diets. It's not just sucrose or fructose that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sugar is present in milk as lactose, in all fruits as fructose and in honey. It's an ingredient in almost all baked goods. And as many have already mentioned, iced coffee and espresso drinks made with sweetened milk are quietly but steadily turning young people into diabetics. Most health authorities have lowered their recommended daily intake of all sugars to just 50-grams. That's the equivalent of 12.5 teaspoons a day of sugar. It doesn't take much to overload your diet and undermine your health. Sugar is jet fuel for cancers and can cause early onset of liver disease. Read labels, even though most are covered over here with Thai translations. Learn how to translate them...it's your health at stake.

The epidemic hitting Thailand will only be overcome through education at the grass roots level and in every grade in the school system. Accurate and hard-hitting messages need to be perpetuated in social media where so many Thais spend many waking hours raptly reading.

To wean yourself off of sugar-laden drinks, try making a simple drink using soda water, squeezed limes and ginger tea or fresh/powdered ginger (look for the no sugar added variety). Add a sprig or two of fresh mint. I mix up a batch and keep it in a large plastic container with a pour spout. It has practically zero calories and is a great tonic that you can sip while at your desk or watching TV. Google up recipes on how to make it or simply experiment yourself.

[yoon01]

It's sugar stupid! The coca-colonisation of the population. Too many sugary drinks (try buying sugar free sodas), too much sugar used in cooking, sugar in bread, etcetc.

No. 'Sugar-free' sodas have aspartame or fructose corn syrup. The rise in diabetes and epidemic of obesity follows the introduction of these toxic chemicals. Now difficult to avoid them.

fructose corn syrup is sugar....so a sugar free something has no fructose.

Aspartame is for sure more healthy than sugar...but I don't get why people need so much sweet. Buy soda water instead and squeeze a lemon in it....

It's the size that matters!

[h90]

The 1933 Farmer's Cyclopedia of Livestock.

Quote:

"Skim milk is one of the most valuable adjuncts of the farm for fattening swine. Used with corn, kafir corn or any of the common grain by-products an almost ideal ration is formed. Hogs like it and relish rations mixed with it. As a re- sult of five years' work in feeding skim milk at the New York station at Cornell, it is concluded that the most economical returns are secured when the milk is fed with corn meal. "

page 545.

Any idea what this means?

Hint:

Skim milk because it is rich in protein (lean meat grow) and milk fat is the most expensive part of the milk it can be sold as butter. That makes it cheap.

Feeding TBone steak and potatoes would also work but it is more expensive than the waste from the butter production.

What is your point?

[h90]

A few added thoughts...we all need to watch the insidious creep of any form of sugar into our diets. It's not just sucrose or fructose that can lead to obesity and type 2 diabetes. Sugar is present in milk as lactose, in all fruits as fructose and in honey. It's an ingredient in almost all baked goods. And as many have already mentioned, iced coffee and espresso drinks made with sweetened milk are quietly but steadily turning young people into diabetics. Most health authorities have lowered their recommended daily intake of all sugars to just 50-grams. That's the equivalent of 12.5 teaspoons a day of sugar. It doesn't take much to overload your diet and undermine your health. Sugar is jet fuel for cancers and can cause early onset of liver disease. Read labels, even though most are covered over here with Thai translations. Learn how to translate them...it's your health at stake.

The epidemic hitting Thailand will only be overcome through education at the grass roots level and in every grade in the school system. Accurate and hard-hitting messages need to be perpetuated in social media where so many Thais spend many waking hours raptly reading.

To wean yourself off of sugar-laden drinks, try making a simple drink using soda water, squeezed limes and ginger tea or fresh/powdered ginger (look for the no sugar added variety). Add a sprig or two of fresh mint. I mix up a batch and keep it in a large plastic container with a pour spout. It has practically zero calories and is a great tonic that you can sip while at your desk or watching TV. Google up recipes on how to make it or simply experiment yourself.

No education won't help. Almost everyone know it already....but what to do if it is so arroy.....It is not education it is discipline and that you won't find in the masses.

A small help would be to have regulations for industrial produced food....Burger chain products, soft drinks should be regulated.

[phycokiller]

I got a Thai friend with diabetes, i suggested that she stop piling sugar on everything. She said that the doctor told her it was ok to keep eating lots sugar as long as she takes the drugs he sells her.

Edited November 14, 2015 by phycokiller

[deckape]

In time, 'Big Food' could gain the same reputation as 'Big Tobacco'. They are using the same tactics, like funding their own research that shows a sugary diet is healthy.

It is hard to convince others of the destructive power of sugar and processed foods. I've failed with my own family, even while they watch me lose weight day after day since giving up sugar.

[h90]

I got a Thai friend with diabetes, i suggested that she stop piling sugar on everything. She said that the doctor told her it was ok to keep eating lots sugar as long as she takes the drugs he sells her.

sister of my wife has about the same problem....suggesting to reduce white rice was an absolute shocking idea....better take drugs than reduce on carbs.

[yoon01]

Sugar is only a part of the diabetic picture, carbohydrate heavy meals, the wrong types of carbohydrates, a sedentary lifestyle and obesity all contribute to the problem.

That's right!

[yoon01]

Food for thought:

[thaipod]

Watch the cooking and restaurant shows on TV here, every dish cooked by so called Thai chefs dump table spoons full of sugar into their woks and pots.

[madmitch]

The notion of Thai food being healthy is a myth and has been discussed before. It can be but so much of it has too much sugar and too much fat.

As for drinks: my GF's father has been in hospital more than once with problems exacerbated by diabetes. So visitors arrive with bottles of Hale's Blue Boy Syrup, the most disgustingly sweet concoction known to man. This surely demonstrates a lack of understanding of diabetes.

Edited November 14, 2015 by madmitch