Diabetes has been regarded as a problem for ageing population in Singapore. But now, as a result of modern lifestyle and diet, the number of pregnant women and children diagnosed as diabetics continues to rise. This really worries the health authorities.
In the National University Hospital (NUH), the number of pregnant women with gestational diabetes has climbed from 13 a month in 2005 to 21 a month in 2006. For 2007, the number of cases was found to be 28 per month.
The problem was partly due to the poor awareness of the issue when most pregnant women tend to eat more and some eventually eat excessively. If they eat more carbohydrates and fried items, instead of proteins and vegetables, their weight will very likely to gain. And weight gain may cause these pregnant women to get diabetes.
Women who have a family history of diabetes, who had a previous baby weighing more than 4 kg, and who weigh 85 kg during the pregnancy are at risk of developing diabetes. The reason behind this is that the birth hormones disturb metabolism needed to clear glucose after meals.
Although 98 percent of pregnant women will return to their normal pre-diabetic state after giving birth, the condition do have some complications like prolonged labour and delivering asymmetrically big babies who may develop neck problems.
This will also make the newborns unhealthy. If the mothers' blood sugar levels are higher, their babies are very likely to have low blood-sugar levels and high insulin levels. This could place them on the list of diabetes, obesity, overweight and hypertension (high blood pressure), and will also increase their chances of developing heart disease.
Diabetes Type 2 used to affect adults. Now, the number of young children suffering from diabetes Type 2 is increasing because of the calorie-rich environment and less physical activities. On the other hand, Type 1 diabetes is the genetic variation affecting someone from childhood. The upward trend corresponds to childhood obesity rates around the world.
In the National University Hospital (NUH), the number of pregnant women with gestational diabetes has climbed from 13 a month in 2005 to 21 a month in 2006. For 2007, the number of cases was found to be 28 per month.
The problem was partly due to the poor awareness of the issue when most pregnant women tend to eat more and some eventually eat excessively. If they eat more carbohydrates and fried items, instead of proteins and vegetables, their weight will very likely to gain. And weight gain may cause these pregnant women to get diabetes.
Women who have a family history of diabetes, who had a previous baby weighing more than 4 kg, and who weigh 85 kg during the pregnancy are at risk of developing diabetes. The reason behind this is that the birth hormones disturb metabolism needed to clear glucose after meals.
Although 98 percent of pregnant women will return to their normal pre-diabetic state after giving birth, the condition do have some complications like prolonged labour and delivering asymmetrically big babies who may develop neck problems.
This will also make the newborns unhealthy. If the mothers' blood sugar levels are higher, their babies are very likely to have low blood-sugar levels and high insulin levels. This could place them on the list of diabetes, obesity, overweight and hypertension (high blood pressure), and will also increase their chances of developing heart disease.
Diabetes Type 2 used to affect adults. Now, the number of young children suffering from diabetes Type 2 is increasing because of the calorie-rich environment and less physical activities. On the other hand, Type 1 diabetes is the genetic variation affecting someone from childhood. The upward trend corresponds to childhood obesity rates around the world.
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