Diabetes rate doubles in Victoria

The number of Victorians with diabetes has doubled in the last seven years, prompting calls for local authorities to help prevent the disease by improving town planning and recreation areas.
The number of Victorians with diabetes rose from about 96,000 in 2001 to 200,000 last year, according to figures from the Victorian branch of Diabetes Australia.
Diabetes Australia's Director of Programs and Services, Dr Ralph Audehm, said 450 people were diagnosed with diabetes every week in Victoria, which he added could be prevented if councils provided more bike paths, designed areas to allow people to walk to and from shops with greater ease, and made outdoor recreational areas safer.
Type 2 diabetes, which occurs later in life, accounts for 83% of all diabetes cases in Victoria and was caused by lifestyle factors according to Dr Audehm.
"60% of Australians are now overweight or obese, tThis is increasing the risk of type 2 diabetes and that's why we are seeing such a huge rise."
Dr Audehm said people in lower socio-economic areas were more at risk of developing diabetes explaining that almost 10,000 people in the municipality of Brimbank in Melbourne's west have the condition, the highest number of any Victorian local government area, stating "Brimbank is a lower socio-economic area, we know that is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes.
"We think there are opportunities to look at the environment in which they live, to make it easier to be more active in their environments, rather than having to hop in the car every time they go somewhere," he said.
Some regional areas also had high rates of diabetes, 10% of people in Loddon in Victoria's northwest having the disease.
Of all diabetes cases in Victoria, about 15% have type 1, or juvenile onset diabetes, while another 2% have gestational diabetes which occurs during pregnancy.