Type 2 diabetes and obesity are major health problems that have reached epidemic proportions and are growing at alarming rates around the world.  More than 63 million people worldwide face the dual challenge of managing type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Type 2 diabetes

According to the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization:

• Approximately 366 million people worldwide are living with diabetes and by 2030, this number is expected to increase to 552 million people, or one in every 10 adults.
• More than 320 million adults worldwide have type 2 diabetes.
• Each year more than 3.8 million people die from diabetes-related causes – one death every 10 seconds – claiming as many lives annually as HIV/AIDS.
• Diabetes imposes a large economic burden on the individual, national healthcare system and economy. Healthcare expenditures on diabetes are expected to account for 11.6% of the total healthcare expenditure in the world in 2010.

Obesity

According to the International Association for the Study of Obesity and the World Health Organization:

• Obesity poses one of the greatest global public health challenges for the 21st century, as the prevalence of adult obesity has risen three-fold in many countries since the 1980s.
• There are more than 500 million obese adults worldwide and almost 1.5 billion who are overweight.
• Around 700 million adults are projected to be obese by 2015.

Type 2 diabetes and obesity

According to the International Diabetes Federation and the World Health Organization:

• Type 2 diabetes is responsible for approximately 90 percent of diabetes cases.
• Overweight and obese individuals are at a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
• Estimated global healthcare expenditures to treat and prevent diabetes and its complications are expected to total at least 560 billion (expressed in International Dollars) in 2030.
• The IDF estimated that the measures to treat and prevent diabetes and its complications worldwide cost at least US$376 billion in 2010.