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Diabetes Diagnoses Jump 10 Percent to 3.3 Million in Thailand

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Diabetes Diagnoses Jump 10 Percent to 3.3 Million in Thailand

Thailand’s Department of Disease Control reports that due to excessive sugar intake more Thais are being diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension each year. Diabetes diagnoses increased by 300,000, or 10%, to 3.3 million this year.

According to Dr Tares Krassanairawiwong, director-general of the DDC, 6.8 million people were diagnosed with hypertension last year, a 3% increase from the previous year. Diabetes and hypertension, he says, can lead to chronic kidney failure, cardiac disease, and paralysis.

According to the World Bank’s collection of development indicators compiled from officially recognized sources, diabetes prevalence (% of population ages 20 to 79) in Thailand was reported at 9.7% in 2021.

Thailand – Diabetes prevalence (% of population aged 20 to 79) – actual values, historical data, forecasts, and projections from the World Bank as of April 2023.

According to data from the Sweet Enough Network, the Bureau of Dental Health, the Department of Health, approximately 50% of Thai schoolchildren suffer from dental health issues, with five-year-olds suffering the most, with 70% of their milk teeth found to be decayed.

A study from Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital’s paediatric endocrinology clinic found a 27% increase in the number of Thai teens aged 10 to 19 who developed diabetes in the last decade or so.

According to the Diabetes Association of Thailand, over 4.8 million Thai adults had diabetes last year, with the number expected to rise to 5.3 million over the next 20 years.

t 04 Child obesity in Thailand reaching alarming levels from food containing unhealthy levels of fat sugar and salt copy

Diabetes in Children

Other healthcare issues confronting Thai youth as a result of excessive sugar consumption include dental health issues and diabetes. Despite years of campaigns and movements to keep the issue under control, the problems persist.

To emphasize the importance of such chronic health concerns, the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, in collaboration with the Sweet Enough Network, recently announced and emphasized its support for the Ministry of Education’s announcement, which prohibits the sale of carbonated beverages and crispy snacks in Bangkok Metropolitan Administration schools.

Thailand, in fact, has other government policies in place to reduce people’s excessive sugar consumption. Among them is a new excise tax on sugary drinks, which went into effect in 2017 in an effort to put pressure on manufacturers to reduce the amount of sugar in their products.

For years, there has been discussion about prohibiting the sale of fizzy drinks in schools. But, do these government measures actually work? Are they truly capable of breaking people’s sugar addiction?

Asst Prof Kitti Sranacharoenpong, lecturer at Mahidol University’s Institute of Nutrition, stated that while the ban on fizzy drink sales in schools may appear to work well at first, this is a healthcare issue with serious long-term consequences.

“The ban may appear effective at first because schools feel monitored, but what’s more important is what happens in the long run,” said Asst Prof Kitti, who has been working with the Office of the Basic Education Commission on Thailand’s school lunch program and with neighbouring countries to set up a healthy lunch campaign for their students.

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Sugary drink sales

According to Asst Prof Kitti, the prevalence of diet-related illnesses in Thai children has increased over the last five years, with children as young as 12 diagnosed with diabetes and requiring insulin injections. Aside from obesity and diabetes, hypertension, as well as heart and kidney disease, is on the rise in Thai children.

These illnesses not only put a strain on the children and their families, but they also put a strain on the national healthcare budget, with funds diverted to treatment and other necessities.

Sugary drink sales in schools have been prohibited in some countries. Singapore, for example, prohibits the sale of medium-to-high-sugar drinks in schools and on government property. Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation in 2005 to ban the most fattening, sugary foods from public schools. The legislation went into effect two years later.

However, Asst Prof Kitti believes that Thailand should take lessons from countries where laws have been used to reduce sugar consumption among schoolchildren.

“The ban worked at first, but it didn’t work in the long run,” he explained.

He believes that the Land of the Rising Sun sets a good example for Thailand and other countries seeking to make children healthier based on his experiences working with schools in Japan on dietary habits.

“[Certain] Japanese schools do not allow students to bring money while also ensuring that school meals are large enough to keep children’s stomachs full, so they don’t feel the need to buy extra snacks or beverages that could otherwise deteriorate their health,” he explained.

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Changing approach on nutrition

To address this public health issue once and for all, Asst Prof Kitti proposed that it all start with children because, while they are most likely to be lured into the trap of poor eating habits, their behaviours are most easily changed.

“Admittedly, children are the change agents in the family; parents will usually not buy items that their children do not eat, resulting in healthier eating habits for the entire family.”

Thailand’s schools should also change their approach to nutrition. Unfortunately, according to Asst Prof Kitti, Thai schools devote only eight hours per year to nutrition-related lessons for students in kindergarten through Grade 6. With so few diet-related classes available, the nutritional expert believes the country cannot expect Thai children to grow up healthy and aware of what they should and should not eat.

“Academic curricula should be revised,” he suggested. “In addition to allotting more time for students to study healthy diets, nutrition-related knowledge should be integrated into other subjects such as math, English, and wherever possible.”

“As a teacher, it is highly recommended that you implement the following concept:” Instead of assigning administrative teachers to oversee nutrition-related aspects of school meals, each school should have a dedicated nutrition teacher, or at least one nutrition teacher for every five to ten schools.

“At the moment, there is no such teacher in Thailand,” he said. “What we have now in our country is only junior teachers who are assigned to take care of school meals while also having other responsibilities.”

However, in order for schools throughout Thailand to be able to provide healthy foods for children, nutrition teachers must attend yearly training to stay up to date on diet-related knowledge and know-how.

Nutrition teachers will also monitor students’ height, weight, and other health-related issues, allowing all food-related aspects to be easily managed and controlled in academic institutions.”

While restricting items sold inside schools, mapping should be done around the neighbourhood to determine what type of food, snacks, and beverages are available nearby and whether they are healthy for children.

“Everyone must look ahead to address nutrition-related issues among schoolchildren; however, legal measures should only be implemented as a last resort because whenever a law is used, business operators will undoubtedly find a way to get away with it, and worse, they may respond with stronger reactions.”

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