A new Canadian study finds that the amount of people living with diabetes in the province of Ontario has jumped 113% over the last decade

It is being reported that the rate of diabetes found in the province of Ontario is sharply rising. Toronto researchers state that from 1995 to 2005, the amount of residents of the province with diabetes doubled, and it is very likely that sooner than later 1 out of 10 Ontarions will have the disease.

"We feel (obesity) is the major driving factor," says Dr. Lorraine Lipscombe, a research fellow with Toronto's Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences
and the lead author of the study.

"As in other parts of the developed world, Canada and Ontario have seen a big increase in obesity rates over the last decade and we know that obesity is
a powerful risk factor for diabetes."

In 1995, it was estimated that Ontario was home to 388000 diabetics, a number that a decade later has jumped 113% to an astounding 827000.

Taking into consideration population factors such as people leaving and people moving into the province, it is now estimated that 8.2% of the population of Ontario is diabetic with type two diabetes being the most common form of the disease.

Lipscombe believes that more needs to be done to target people and educate them on the dangers of diabetes: "It would be parallel to what has been happening with the smoking campaigns over the past 20 years, which have been a huge success," she says. " ...
Something of that magnitude is necessary."

"There has been a parallel, 50 per cent increase in immigration from those (high risk) areas in Ontario alone so it's possible that may be contributing
to those (diabetes) numbers here," state the Canadian Diabetic Association.

"I think the major driving factor is changes in lifestyle which promote the increase in obesity and that is a national and North American problem," says
Lipscombe.

Source: Toronto Star.