There are now 40,010 people under 40 living with a type 2 diagnosis in the South East and London region. This Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week, we have outlined our plan to stop the crisis in its tracks.
Our new report, titled Reverse the Trend - Reducing type 2 diabetes in young people (PDF, 9,727KB), reveals there was an almost 40% increase in the number of people under the age of 40 living with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes between 2016-17 and 2022-23.
We estimate there are now almost 168,000 people under 40 with the condition in the UK, a rise of more than 47,000 since 2016-17, and says the figures should come as a ‘major wake-up call’ to policymakers.
Across the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in the region - covering Greater London, Surrey, East Sussex, West Sussex and Kent - the number of cases of people under 40 living with type 2 diabetes has risen by 32.6%, from 30,170 to 40,010 over the same period.
Our latest figures confirm an incredibly troubling growing trend, how serious health conditions linked to obesity, caused by the environment we live in, are becoming more and more prevalent in a younger demographic.
Our report, published as part of Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week (May 20-26) and launched at a reception at the Houses of Parliament, calls for all political parties to commit to a series of actions to tackle these rising figures.
Diabetes prevalence in the South East and London
Our new diabetes prevalence figures released this week show there are nearly 4.4 million people living with a diabetes diagnosis in the UK as of 2022-23. Approximately 90 per cent of the cases are type 2 diabetes, about 8% are type 1 diabetes, with the other forms of the condition make up the remaining 2%.
In the South East Coast and London region, the number of cases of people living with a diagnosis of diabetes has risen by 3.7% to 870,510 between 2021/22 - 2022/23.
As part of Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week, we are urging people to check their risk of the condition by using our free, online Know Your Risk tool. It takes just a few minutes to complete and advises you on your risk and suggests next steps to help reduce your risk.
