Obesity, Immigration, Age Driving Up Diabetes Rates in Canada
by sanam - December 9, 2009
Rising rates of diabetes in Canada could cost the economy as much as $17 billion by the year 2020, according to a new report that calls on the government to do more to ease the economic burden.
The Canadian Diabetes Association’s report, An Economic Tsunami: The Cost of Diabetes in Canada, warns that more than 20 people are diagnosed with the disease every hour of every day, and that number is expected to continue to rise over the coming years.
Rising obesity rates, an aging population and changes in the ethnic mix of new immigrants are all believed to be driving the increasing rates of diabetes.
Almost 80 percent of new Canadians are from populations that are at a higher risk for diabetes, including people of South Asian, Asian, African and Hispanic descent.
»
- 1435 reads
