The east London area is one of 27 areas across the country to be chosen to be part of the first stage of the Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. That means that money will be spent now on helping residents stave off type 2 diabetes – rather than waiting till patients develop it and then spending money on drugs. In Tower Hamlets, there are more than 16,000 residents diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes – nearly 7% of adults in the borough. It is estimated that another 20,000 people are at high risk of diabetes.
Diabetes is a condition which causes the amount of glucose in your blood to be too high. This is because the body can’t produce enough insulin, or because the insulin that is produced doesn’t work properly. While Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable through lifestyle changes.
The Prevention Programme starts in July and lasts for nine months. People across Tower Hamlets who are considered to be at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes will be invited to join it. The Programme involves educating people about those lifestyle factors and how to change them, and then giving them ongoing support to make the changes – which does lead to a small amount of controversy.
The positive side is that the Programme will encourage participants to be more physically active and will tell them what local resources are available to help them. Participants can choose to join a Fit 4 Life or health trainers programme. They will receive support to improve dietary choices as well as advice on how they can maintain changes to their lifestyle and stay healthy. There will also be tailored information to help participants understand the long term complications of developing Type 2 diabetes, which can include heart disease, stroke or kidney disease.
The slight reservation about the programme is that it is all very well educating people to make better choices, but the infrastructure is not necessarily there to support better choices. Healthy food tends to be more expensive than food which is bad for you, and local budgets can’t always stretch to stocking kitchen cupboards with healthy ingredients. It can be hard to find healthy food, too. Most of us go to the supermarket, and then stock up on basics from local shops in between supermarket visits. However, corner shops across Tower Hamlets sell low grade, packaged, sliced loaves. It is almost impossible to find decent wholemeal bread on sale in the borough’s small shops. It is not clear how the Programme will tackle these material problems.
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