This programme asks how much our diet is responsible for the rise in diabetes in the UK and worldwide. We also ask if the conventional complex carbohydrate, low fat diet recommended by the diabetic industry is really the most appropriate for managing the condition, or would a lower carbohydrate diet, with emphasis on low Glycaemic Index carbohydrates, and slightly more proteins and fats, be more successful in the long run?
We talk to Max , an adolescent whose obesity has led to him being one of the increasing numbers of children and adolescents being diagnosed with Type 2, or obesity diabetes. And we talk to Dr Jeremy Allgrove, Consultant Paediatrician at St Bartholomew ' s Hospital and Newham General Hospital in East London who treats Max at the East London Centre for Paediatric and Adolescent Diabetes .
People from ethnic minority groups, particularly black and South Asian people, are at increased risk of developing diabetes. We talked to Professor Naveed Sattar, Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow about his research which showed that South Asians in Glasgow have rates of diabetes 4-5 times higher than their white counterparts, and also that their condition worsens more rapidly.
Ronke Jomo-Coco is Director of the Black and Ethnic Minority Diabetes Association (BEMDA ) who act as a "cultural bridge" between mainstream diabetic organisations like Diabetes UK to reach the often socially excluded ethnic minority groups at greater risk of developing diabetes, and to make the available dietary information culturally appropriate for them.
In the studio we discuss the conflicting dietary advice available to diabetics. The conventional advice has always been that complex carbohydrates like pasta, starchy foods like yams, wholemeal breads, should form the basis of the diet, and that a low fat diet should be followed. Care Advisor and dietician Natasha Marsland from Diabetes UK outlines this view. But many doctors believe that this diet is not the right one to follow to successfully manage blood sugar levels - Dr John Briffa advocates to his patients a low GI diet, cutting back on things like pasta and bread and potatoes and putting the emphasis on low GI carbohydrates like vegetables, seeds, pulses, and proteins like meat and fish which much research shows is more successful. Diabetes UK believes that meats and fats are problematic for diabetics because of the saturated fats involved.
In New York diabetes rates have risen so rapidly that the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention has taken this decision from this year to monitor all diabetics blood sugar records with a view to intervening in particularly problem areas. We speak to Lynn Silver, Assistant Commissioner, Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene . And to Dr Gerald Bernstein, Vice President for Medical Affairs at Generex Biotechnology , and previously Director of the Beth Israel Diabetes Centre, explains why this is necessary.
Neville Rigby, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the International Obesity Taskforce outlines the sorts of public health policies that need to be undertaken in the UK if we are to successfully tackle the diabetic epidemic, including restrictions on "junk" food advertising to children, and subsidies on healthy foods.
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Presenting The Food Programme has been Sheila's perfect job.