As of: 02/27/2023 6:17 p.m
Obesity is considered to be one of the most important factors in the development of diabetes. More and more children are also affected. Food Minister Özdemir is therefore calling for stricter advertising rules for unhealthy foods.
By Ralf Koelbel, SWR
Diabetes mellitus, also known as “diabetes”, is on the rise worldwide. Loud Robert Koch Institute seven out of 100 adults in Germany will develop diabetes during their lifetime – making diabetes one of the most common diseases.
Every seventh child is overweight
About 90 percent of those affected have type 2 diabetes, which is associated with obesity (obesity) in over 80 percent. According to official information from the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture, around 15 percent of 3- to 17-year-olds in Germany are overweight, including almost six percent obese.
Childhood obesity often remains for life and increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes later in life. Minister Cem Özdemir therefore wants to ban advertising for chips, chocolate and other fattening foods aimed at children in the future.
Regulate advertising of unhealthy foods
Specifically, Özdemir is interested in foods with a high sugar, fat and salt content. According to the minister, they should no longer be advertised between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. in the future. In addition, there should be no outdoor advertising within a radius of 100 meters from schools, daycare facilities, playgrounds or other leisure facilities for children, and no sponsorship.
The term “children” in this context means under 14 years of age. The whole thing is to be controlled by the market surveillance authorities of the federal states.
Obesity important factor
For most of those affected, the diagnosis is “adult-onset diabetes”, as type 2 diabetes is also called. It often occurs at a young age, especially in people who are very overweight. Characteristic of this form of diabetes is that the effect of insulin in the body cells is reduced. One speaks here of a so-called insulin resistance, which is always coupled with an insulin deficiency.
Obesity at a young age increases the risk of developing diabetes more than increasing age. Those who smoke and eat a lot of red meat are also particularly at risk. In addition, fine dust in the air is an important risk factor.
Many products contain too much salt, fat or sugar for children and teenagers.
Image: ARD current
Therefore, Özdemir wants to issue stricter rules for advertising aimed at children.
Image: picture alliance / imageBROKER
Type 1 diabetes is hereditary
The rarer form of diabetes, type 1 diabetes, is different. There, your body attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. The body no longer produces insulin. There is an absolute lack of insulin with the result that the fuels contained in the food, such as dextrose (glucose), can no longer be sufficiently channeled into the body cells and metabolized.
Type 1 diabetes is congenital and occurs at a young age. The classic type of metabolic disorder occurs primarily in children, adolescents and young adults and affects 0.3 to 0.4 percent of the population. According to current knowledge, environmental factors and weight do not play a major role in this form of diabetes.
Study: Type 1 cases doubled
But the number of type 1 diabetes cases also seems to be increasing dramatically – including in children: a current one Lancet study now predicts that the number of cases of type 1 diabetes could double worldwide by 2040 from around 8.4 million to as many as 17.4 million.
There is currently no explanation for the sharp increase in cases, says Andreas Neu from the University Hospital in Tübingen and Vice President of the German Diabetes Society in an interview with the SWR. “There is hardly a factor that has not been analyzed in connection with the increase in type 1 diabetes. Lifestyle, climatic factors and demographic factors have been examined to find a connection. But to date it has not succeeded. And the simple, sobering answer is: We don’t know why autoimmune type 1 diabetes is increasing.”
Advances in diabetes therapies
Some time ago, patients with type 1 diabetes in particular had to constantly inject insulin – there are now alternatives. These include programmable insulin pumps that regularly deliver the right amount. Drug therapy has made significant advances. For example, there are drugs that patients only have to inject once a week instead of every day. Diabetologists recommend such depot injections especially for seniors.
There are also new active ingredients on the market that normalize blood sugar. In this way, serious secondary diseases of vessels and nerves can be largely prevented or significantly delayed. In the case of type 2 diabetes, these new drugs should also help with weight loss.