The Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna state are among the dignitaries expected to grace the presentation of a book on prevention of diabetes.
Chairman, Local Organising Committee for the presentation of the Book titled, ‘Diet for prevention & Treatment of Diabetes’, Mrs. Mary Yanbiyu Aliyu disclosed this to the media in Kaduna on Sunday. She said that diabetes for some time has been a silent killer but research has shown that dietary factors are of paramount importance in the management and prevention of type 2 diabetes.
The book authored by US based Clinical Dietician, Adekemi Adejare, stated the need for patients to watch their diets, noting that diabetes is one of the biggest global public health problems and the prevalence is estimated to increase from 425 million people in 2017 to 629 million by 2045.
She added that urgent solutions for slowing, or even reversing this trend are needed, especially from investment in modifiable factors including diet, physical activity, and weight.
Mrs. Aliyu identified diet as a leading contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. “The importance of nutrition in the management and prevention of type 2 diabetes through its effect on weight and metabolic control is clear.
“However, nutrition is also one of the most controversial and difficult aspects of the management of type 2 diabetes. The idea of being on a “diet” for a chronic lifelong condition like diabetes is enough to put many people off as knowing what to eat and maintaining an optimal eating pattern are challenging.
“Medical nutrition therapy was introduced to guide a systematic and evidence based approach to the management of diabetes through diet, and its effectiveness has been demonstrated, but difficulties remain.
“Most physicians are not trained in nutrition interventions and this is a barrier to counselling patients. Talking to patients about nutrition is time consuming. In many settings, outside of specialised diabetes centres where trained nutritionists/educators are available, advice on nutrition for diabetes is, at best, a printed menu given to the patient.
“In resource poor settings, when type 2 diabetes is diagnosed, often the patient leaves the clinic with a list of new medications and little else,” Mrs. Aliyu said, while adding that the presentation of the book is to increase awareness on the diabetes menace.
