Study draws attention to increasing prevalence of diabetes in Jordan

AMMAN — As a study warns that one out of five Jordanians will be diabetic by the year 2050, nutritionists agree that a healthy lifestyle can prevent and even reverse the progress of the disease.

According to findings published in Scientific Reports by the Nature journal, Jordan is expected to see increasing rates of diabetes over the next 30 years, stalling the already overburdened healthcare system.

The study, titled “Characterising the type 2 diabetes mellitus epidemic in Jordan up to 2050”, is the result of a collaboration between the National Centre for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Genetics in Jordan, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, and Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-Q) in Qatar.

The study observed that most cases in Jordan are due to widespread obesity in the country.

The coronavirus is having a huge impact on increasing diabetes cases in the Kingdom. People who are infected by COVID and who are 40 years and above are especially at risk of diabetes, nutritionist Suzan Haddad told The Jordan Times.

“Major issues facing Jordanians are the lack of physical activities and an unhealthy lifestyle,” Haddad said, adding that many diabetic patients still like sweets and that is “a real challenge”.  

Hadded noted the importance of improving the attitude towards sugar consumption in society, adding that there are more healthy sugar alternatives that can be options for diabetic patients.

“Frequent medical checkups, physical activity, drinking enough amount of water and reducing sugar and carbohydrates intake, go a long way,” she added. 

Mohmmad Abu Rayyan, a nutritionist, told The Jordan Times that people do not usually go for walks or do sports due to easy access to transport.

“Most employees are busy with their daily routine and do not have time to go to the gym,” he said.

According to Abu Rayyan, hereditary diabetes makes only a small number of total cases, while the majority of cases are caused by unhealthy practices. 

“Increasing nutritional awareness and launching awareness programmes about the risk of diabetes will limit the number of patients,” he said.