Lankans eating their way to diabetes

By Don Asoka Wijewardena

In Sri Lanka 32.3 per cent of the rural population and 20.8 per cent of the urban population had high insulin sensitivity levels in the blood due to high contents of carbohydrate in rice and sugary items they consume. Around 90 per cent of the total population eat carbohydrate-rich food and unless the current eating habits were not changed, they would be liable to become diabetics in ten years. When high amounts of carbohydrate were taken, the pancreas had to work hard resulting in insulin sensitivity, Consultant Nutritionist Dr. Ms. Renuka Jayatissa revealed.

She said that a comprehensive study conducted by the Medical Research Institute (MRI) had revealed that the rural population would be more prone to diabetes than the urban population in the near future, because the rural people had got used to consuming 90 per cent of their food intake in rice and sugary items. In other words they were in the habit of eating rice for all three meals.

Rural people were under the impression that they were free from diseases, she said.

When asked for the correct intake of carbohydrate, Dr. Ms. Jaytissa said that a person’s daily diet should contain 60 per cent carbohydrates and 40 per cent vegetables, fruits and pulses such as green gram, sago and cowpea. "What has happened is that many rural folks, except farmers, while away their time without physical activities. They eat rice for the three meals and less vegetables, fruits and pulses. They will develop diabetes in another ten years time unless they change their eating habits."