SPO049 2 Public Health Nutrition

The Prevalence of Diabetes amongst the Indian-Asian Community

As already hinted, the rate of diabetes differs according to, among other factors, ethnicity. In the UK, there are three main ethnic groups. These are the majority Caucasians, and the minority African-Caribbean and the Indian-Asians. Since this paper is about the Indian-Asians, it will narrow down the discussion to it. Indian-Asian is a group of people of Asian origin. They mainly immigrated into the UK from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Burma, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, and Bangladesh. According to the 2011 national population census, the Indian-Asian community was made up of a population of 3,078,374 people translating into a 4.9% of the total UK population. Out of this number, there were 451,529 and 1,451,862 Bangladesh and Pakistan ethic groups (Montesi, Caletti & Marchesini 2016).

Research has established that the prevalence of diabetes is highest amongst the Asian-Indians than any other community within the UK.  Type 2 diabetes is particularly a serious problem for this community. The Asian-Indians are six times more likely to contract the illness. This implies that despite their small number, the Asian-Indians account for a total of 8% of diabetes in the UK. There are so many reasons why the prevalence of diabetes is higher among the Asian-Indians than the rest of the communities in the UK (Bhopal, et al 2014). As a community, the Asian-Indians have lots of socio-economic uniqueness that distinguish them from other communities this making them more vulnerable to attack by the disease.

Just like any other minority groups across the world, the Asian-Indians are faced with any challenges in their day-to-day lives. First and foremost, the community is subscribed to cultural traditions that make them vulnerable to diabetes (Sadarangani, et al 2014). The Asian-Indians have been labeled as a superstitious community that engages in unhealthy activities such as poor diet and lifestyle. As a lifestyle disease, obesity has to be prevalent amongst the community members because they do not engage in physical exercises and eat healthily. The Asian-Indians are not economically and socially empowered. This has made them unable to get uninterrupted access to quality healthcare services as well as make rational decisions regarding their health (Mulligan, et al 2017). Apart from the poor management strategies adopted, the Asian-Indians still remain vulnerable to diabetes because of their genetics, geography and family history.

Evidence of Eating Habits amongst the Asian-Indians

As a minority group, the Asian-Indians face numerous challenges. Unlike their Caucasian counterparts, the Asian-Indians are not empowered. Meaning, they are poor people who are regarded low status individuals. Thus, they have found it hard to get an easier access to quality education, employment opportunities and healthcare services. The fact that most of the Asian-Indians are unemployed implies that they cannot afford to lea a quality life. They do not have enough money to use in meeting their basic and secondary needs such as food, proper housing, and clothing (Maahs, et al 2015). At the same time, they are not properly educated to make good decisions regarding their health.

The rate of diabetes is therefore higher amongst the Asian-Indians because of their lifestyle. There is enough evidence that these people do not engage in healthy eating habits. The first evidence is that there is a section of this community that believes in the teachings of Buddhism, a religion that forbids the consumption of meat. By becoming strict vegetarians, the Asian-Indians are definitely eating poorly. Although vegetarianism is a god practice, it exposes the community members to diabetes because it is not done as directed in the teachings of Buddha (Nanditha, et al 2016). The vegetarians who mainly rely on rise or beans do not consume a balanced diet. In most cases, the food eaten lacks some of the basic nutrients because they do not contain proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and starch. These are essential components that should be included in the diet.

Apart from the practice of vegetarianism, the Asian-Indians are encouraged to engage in poor eating habits because of their cultural traditions. As a community, the Indians are known to be quite conservatives. Most of these people still believe in the power of ceremonies and celebrations that were started many centuries ago. During such ceremonies, certain foods must be eaten because they are linked together. One of the most common food stuffs being consumed during the Asian ceremonies is sweets. Although it has a historical significance in the community, sweet is not a healthy food. Its usage in day-to-day life can be disastrous because it can expose the people to lifestyle diseases (Lokulo-Sodipe, Moon, Edge & Davies 2014). The situation is worsened because many people continue using sweet because they are brought up believing that it is a healthy food to eat.  

All in all, the socioeconomic status of the Asian-Indians makes them to engage in unhealthy eating habits. The fact that these people strictly adhere to their cultural beliefs means that they must continue using certain food products irrespective of their healthiness. This problem is compounded by the fact that the Asian-Indians are poor people who do not have enough money to use. Meaning, they cannot manage to afford and constantly use healthy foods that can enable them to deal with the challenge of lifestyle diseases like diabetes (Bray & Popkin 2014). Poverty is a bad thing because it not only limits the people’s purchasing power, but also hinders them from seeking for medical services from the healthcare providers. This can be disastrous because failure to seek for medical attention implies that the people cannot be sensitized on healthy eating habits to adopt so as to keep lifestyle ailments like diabetes at bay (Andersen, et al 2016).  If this would be happening, the prevalence of diabetes would not be higher amongst the Asian-Indians than the Caucasians and the African-Caribbean.

Diet Formulation for the Asian-Indians

From the discussion, it is evident that the Asian-Indians are in a dire need of intervention. The prevalence of diabetes is already higher and expected to rise if no stern measures are taken to address it. So far, programs have been rolled out by the local and national government agencies to help in dealing with the situation. One of the notable programs so far taken is the sensitization of the Asian-Indian community members on the management of diabetes (Hankonen, et al 2015). The government identified the community as a special group that needs to be helped lest the problem of diabetes escalate to worrying levels. In the program, individuals were provided by education on how to adopt their lifestyle. Everyone was taught about the causes, risk factors, and the negative impacts of diabetes in their lives.  

In the program, people were taught how to manage the condition. The teaching mainly focused on the performance of physical activity. The community members were told that the disease is closely related to physical inactivity. Meaning, the people who do not exercise are so prone to the infection. When people do not exercise, they can accumulate too much calories (Cheng, et al 2015). However, this might be dangerous for their health because it can make them susceptible to diseases such as obesity and diabetes. This justifies why the government used the experts to design a campaign program to use in sensitizing the community members so as to help them manage the condition and prevent it from spreading to other people (Beverly 2014). These are the measures that have been taken to tackle the persistent problem of obesity amongst the Asian-Indians. However, they have not been efficient in providing an ultimate solution to the challenge.

Since these measures have been inefficient in addressing the problem of diabetes amongst the Asian-Indian community, it can be much better if a new program is rolled out to provide an ultimate solution to the problem. The consistent manner in which diabetes has affected the Asian-Indian community demonstrates that it is a real menace in the healthcare sector that should not be neglected. The efforts taken by the government has mainly focused on sensitization of the public. However, it has totally failed to resolve the problem of diet (Cheng, et al 2015). The community members still engage in poor eating habits because of three reasons: 1) lack of education on a proper use of diet, 2) poverty that has hindered the people from acquiring healthy foods, and 3) cultural beliefs and practices regarding the use of food amongst the community members.   

The paper proposes that an education program should be launched to help in addressing the nutritious requirements of the community. The program should teach the community members that the prevention and management of diabetes should be done by avoiding the use of unhealthy foods such as fast foods. These foods contain a lot of sugar whose consumption can increase the amount of fats in the body therefore causing lifestyle diseases such as diabetes (Minihane, et al 2015). At the same time, the community members should be adequately sensitized to avoid taking salty foods. Just like sugar, salt is a substance that can be so harmful to the lives of individuals. It can also increase the chances of contracting diabetes. The same applies to food products with saturated fat. Just like salt and sugar, saturated fat should be avoided at all costs. It can also be equally dangerous is consumed because it can be a risk factor for diabetes (Feinman, et al 2015). The teaching should not be restricted to the adults alone, but be extended to the children as well.

After sensitizing the community members to avoid sugary, salty, and fat saturated food products, they should be educated on the right type food to consume. The recommended diet will consist of fresh foods such as fruits, meat, fish, beans, eggs, nuts, cheese, yoghurt, and vegetables. The meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner should always be balanced each and every day.  This will not only help to manage diabetes, but also help in providing enough energy to sustain the body Caplan 2013). All the community members should therefore be properly educated on how to adopt a healthy eating habit. The program can even be so successful if it advocates for the restriction of the sale of junk food especially to the younger generations.  

References:

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