A THOROUGH RESEARCH SHOULD BE CONDUCTED TO STUDY HOW SABAHANS KEEP DIABETES AT BAY AS THE FINDING COULD BE VITAL IN HELPING THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AVOID THE DISEASE

Study on cause of lower diabetes cases among Sabahans

SIPITANG: A thorough research should be conducted to study how Sabahans keep diabetes at bay as the finding could be vital in helping the rest of the country avoid the disease.

Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob in suggesting this yesterday, said Sabahans are less prone to diabetes as compared to other Malaysians, probably due their healthier diet and lifestyle.

Speaking at the Reduce Sugar Intake Campaign here, he pointed out that only 4.9 percent of the population in Sabah is diabetic, a figure which is less than a third as compared to the national diabetes prevalence of 14.9 percent.

“I think a study is needed to identify how the people in Sabah managed to keep such a percentage. This can be used as an example and shared by other Malaysian in preventing the disease,” he said.

The figure in Sabah, he added can be further decreased if the population here is more aware of how diabetes occur and further reduced their daily sugar intake.

He noted that there were about 1.2 million patients suffering from diabetes in Malaysia and the figure continue to rise every year with WHO estimating there would be 2.5 million diabetics in the country by 2030.

The Malaysian Diabetes Association (MDA), according to Sabri, predicted even higher number and estimated there could be up 5.0 million Malaysians contracting diabetes in 20 years from now.

He said sugar consumption among Malaysian is very high and worrying.