Type 2 diabetes incidence declines in Australian adults, but not in Australians born overseas

The incidence of type 2 diabetes in Australian adults has been declining since 2010, but the same cannot be said of Australian adults born in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Pacific Islands.

In a new paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia, researchers report that although the incidence of type 2 diabetes continued to decline among Australian adults during 2010–2019 across all age, sex, socio-economic disadvantage and remoteness groups, incidence increased among people from particular ethnic backgrounds.

Head of Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute Diabetes and Population Health Lab, and first author of the paper, Professor Dianna Magliano, said that given these significant variances among cohorts, type 2 diabetes prevention strategies should have a strong focus on the differences in diabetes risk among populations.

“It’s a positive step that we are reducing the overall incidence of type 2 diabetes in Australia,” she said. “But in 2023, more than 30% of the Australian population was born overseas. We therefore need multifaceted approaches for preventing type 2 diabetes that take into account differences in the risk of developing diabetes, particularly among people with culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.”

The decline in overall incidence in Australia is similar to that reported for a number of other high-income countries, Prof Magliano said, and the increase in incidence among Australians born in Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and Pacific Islands is also consistent with substantial increases in type 2 diabetes prevalence in the Pacific Islands, the Middle East, and South Asia themselves.

“Several factors could explain this decline in Australia,” she said. “First, some of the diabetes prevention strategies that we have implemented in Australia may have led to behavioral and environmental changes sufficient to influence the incidence of diagnosed diabetes. One good example of this is that the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages in Australia is reported to have declined.

“And second, the shift from oral glucose tolerance testing to HbA1c assessment for diabetes screening may be a contributing factor to this decline in overall incidence.”

As a member of the Alfred Alliance in Diabetes, the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute made a submission to the Federal Government’s Parliamentary Inquiry into Diabetes. In July, the House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport tabled its report on the state of diabetes mellitus in Australia. It includes 23 recommendations, placing particular emphasis on the prevention of diabetes and raising awareness of major risk factors associated with the disease.

Provided by
Baker Heart & Diabetes Institute