Worker health checks reveal 50% men at risk of developing diabetes

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDApr 1 2010

Over the last one year 100,000 State Government financed worker health check ups have been conducted. The results have been an eye-opener. 800 workers after their check ups have been asked to consult their physicians immediately. These check ups included measurements of blood pressure, blood cholesterol, blood sugar and waist circumference. The workers were also questioned regarding their eating, drinking and exercising habits.

Alarmingly 50% men and 30% women checked had a high risk of developing diabetes and similar numbers could develop heart disease.

The Health Minister, Daniel Andrews, says "Eight hundred people out of that group needed to see a doctor within 24 hours…Almost one in two males in the program had elevated risks, high or very high risks of developing Type 2 diabetes or a heart disease issue, and almost a third of females."

He also said that less than 10% had a nutritious diet of fruits and vegetables, 73 per cent did not do enough exercise and 38 per cent drank too much. One in five had high blood pressure according to reports.

"It's about giving people the advice, the understanding that they need to act…Then, with the support of their GP, with the support of the Victorian health system, to bring about the lifestyle changes they need, to act on those risk factors," he concluded.

Victorian Premier John Brumby said "They are deeply disturbing figures…The point is, the biggest killer of people today is not communicable diseases as it was a decade or a century ago, it's now non-communicable diseases….So it's all the lifestyle disease ... that come from being overweight or unfit or with high blood sugar, or high cholesterol, or high blood pressure."

He said that this program was enforced in order to save the state hospital system $300 million over the next five years and employers $200 in lost productivity. These disturbing results coincidentally have emerged on the same day as Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s announcement of a $436 million program to combat diabetes.