Income inequality a factor in diabetes: York U health researcher

        TORONTO, August 26, 2003 ? With diabetes named as the next world
pandemic putting more than 300
        million people at risk by 2025, health care experts need to look at
more than just poor diet and a lack of
        exercise as the main causes, says Dennis Raphael, associate
professor at York University's School of
        Health Policy & Management.

        In a report released yesterday to the International Diabetes
Federation conference in Paris, researchers
        warned that Type II or "adult" diabetes is increasing and estimated
costs could reach between $214 and
        $396 billion within 20 years. In some of the hardest-hit countries,
the economic impact will be higher than
        AIDS, said one researcher.

        Prof. Raphael said focussing on traditional factors associated with
Type II diabetes masks the fact that
        people in lower income groups -- especially women and their
children -- are more at risk than other groups.

        "Type II diabetes -- the most prevalent type -- appears to be
related to a variety of factors that fall outside
        the usual preoccupation with diet and lifestyle changes," says
Raphael. "These include increasing income
        inequality, the increasing prevalence of poverty and
marginalization, and the weakening of social safety
        nets in Canada and around the world."

        Prof. Raphael, who is also director of the undergraduate program at
York's School of Health Policy &
        Management, has written extensively on societal factors affecting
the rate of disease in North America's
        population. In his most recent article drawing on the growing
literature in this field, he details how social
        conditions impact both people's risk of developing Type II diabetes
and their ability to manage this chronic
        disease.

        Citing figures that show women in low-income groups are four times
more likely to develop diabetes than
        those in higher income categories, Prof. Raphael says the societal
factors put children at risk before birth
        and throughout their life span. Once affected by the disease,
people in low-income groups are also less able
        to manage their condition by eating healthier foods and
participating in recreational activities. A major study
        into people's predisposition to Type II diabetes (obesity,
cholesterol levels and blood pressure among
        others) showed that conventional factors such as diet and exercise
failed to account for 90 per cent of
        variations in the findings.

        By the year 2010, Health Canada predicts as many as 4 million
Canadians will be affected by Type II
        diabetes causing a dramatic increase in the mortality rate. Five
thousand people died from the disease in
        1999 and the mortality rate has been rising since 1986.

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        For further information, please contact:

        Nancy White                 David Fuller
        Director Media Relations            Media Relations
        York University                            York University
        416-736-5603                      416-736-2100 ext. 22086
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