A Medical Imaging Scientist, Dr Livinus Abonyi, has called for massive public education on best nutritional habits and practices that could be adopted to reduce rate of Diabetes Mellitus (DM) among the populace.
Abonyi, also the Head, Department of Radiography, University of Lagos, made the call on Tuesday in Lagos.
Diabetes is a non-communicable disease associated with increased level of glucose due to inadequate supply of insulin (known as Type 1 diabetes) or inability to use insulin efficiently (known as Type 2 diabetes).
According to Abonyi, in Nigeria, many people are believed to be living with diabetes and the country’s diabetes prevalence rate is one of the highest in Africa.
He explained that the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) was increasing worldwide, and it was projected that by the year 2030, over 500 million adults would be affected by DM.
The scientist said that the increase of diabetes among Nigerians could be as a result of urbanisation and aging of the population.
He explained that DM increased with advancing age, saying that this could be because aging was often accompanied by decline in lean body mass and increase in body fat.
Abonyi stressed that the increased body fat, particularly visceral adiposity, could contribute to the development of insulin resistance.
He noted that, however, the prevalence of DM was still lower in traditional rural areas than urban communities due to the sophisticated and western lifestyles practised in the urban cities.
“In Nigeria, all kinds of drinks, noodles and food products are in circulation and freely consumed by the citizens without proper quality assurance, effective regulation and approval for consumption.
“An average Nigerian prescribes one type of drug or the other to the next neighbour, colleague or relation who complains of any illness, without proper investigation or diagnosis.
“No doubt, this attitude affects major organs of the body which helps the body in carrying out its metabolic functions effectively. These organs begin to fail early in life with one of the outcomes being, diabetes.
“Efforts should be made by government agencies, non-governmental bodies, public health experts, health care practitioners, associations and the media in educating citizens in the best nutritional habits and practices.
“Citizens should learn to surrender themselves to experts in registered hospitals when sick,” Abonyi said.
He, therefore, urged Nigerians to cultivate healthy eating habits by reducing the intake of refined diet and increasing the intake of diet high in fiber.
According to him, there is also the need to reduce high caloric diet which can lead to overweight and obesity causing insulin resistance.
