New NHS campaign promotes diabetes awareness among South Asians  

Community voices and celebrities have urged South Asians in the UK to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in new NHS campaign.

Celebrity chefs Atul Kochhar, Anjum Anand and media medic Dr Ranj Singh are part of the inaugural campaign supported by the South Asian Health Foundation, the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO), British Sikh Nurses, British Islamic Medical Association and the Hindu Council UK.

South Asians are up to six times more likely to develop diabetes than white people. If not diagnosed, the disease can lead to blindness, kidney failure, loss of a limb, besides increasing the risk of heart attack or stroke.

The campaign urges South Asians to use the ‘Know Your Risk’ tool hosted by Diabetes UK. Anyone at moderate or high risk of developing the condition can join their local Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme, a joint initiative from NHS England and NHS Improvement, Public Health England and Diabetes UK.

It supports people to make positive changes to their diet, weight and the amount of physical activity they do – to significantly reduce the risk of developing this disease.

TV Doctor Dr Ranj Singh said that some simple changes could significantly reduce the chances of developing type 2 diabetes in South Asians.

“That starts with finding out more about your risk and the changes you can make,” he said.

Professor Vinod Patel, Clinical Director Diabetes NHS England & NHS Improvement West Midlands and Trustee at the South Asian Health Foundation (SAHF), added: “It’s really important for the community to take heed that there are other risk factors such as your weight which are very much in your control – indeed, the risk of Type 2 diabetes can be reduced by getting support to lose weight, getting more physically active and eating healthy food.”

Food writer and TV chef Anjum Anand noted that the South Asian cuisine provides many options to follow a healthy and balanced diet.

“People often have the misconception that healthy means bland, which is so far from true. Whether it’s reducing the amount of ghee or butter, incorporating the rainbow of vegetables or choosing grainy breads such as chapatis, there are so many options within the South Asian diet open to us,” she said.