Diabetes Walk held yesterday:

'Diabetes no longer a disease of the elderly'

Anuradha Kodagoda

Commemorating the World Diabetes Day 2009, the Diabetes Research Unit, Department of Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo together with the Tharunyata Hetak youth organization conducted the "Diabetes Walk 2009" at 7 am yesterday.

The walk commenced from the Colombo Municipal Council grounds and ended at the Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha. A mini-exhibition related to diabetes, treatment and prevention was also held near Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha.

The main objective of the event was to create awareness about diabetes and its prevention, to form a fund for future research in Diabetes and Metabolism and liaise efficiently with International institutions' by serving as an annual calendar event. This mega-event brought together a large cross section of the general public, school children, medical students and professionals.

Health Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, Chairman of Tharunyata Hetak Namal Rajapaksa and officials from the Ministries of Health and Education, institutions providing related medical care, celebrities and politicians in addition to a host of other Government/Private institutions also participated at the event.

Participating at the event world famous Sri Lankan cricket star Sanath Jayasuriya said, "My mother is also a diabetic patient. So I very well know the suffering of a diabetic patient as well as its complications. Therefore, I wanted to raise an awareness of this disease among the people in our country and in the world."

Actress Natasha Jayasinghe who also participating in the event said, "In my profession, I get the privilege of influencing young minds and this is why I want to step up and say how important it is to embrace a healthy lifestyle. You are never too young or too old to start taking care of yourself."

"Diabetes is no longer a disease of the elderly. It is increasingly being diagnosed in the younger population. Many studies have shown that South Asians have a particularly higher risk of developing diabetes and is compounded by the declining age of onset of the disease. The sedentary lifestyle, lack of exercise, unhealthy dietary habits and being overweight are a few of the modifiable risk factors for diabetes mellitus which can be avoided with education and committed effort, resulting in prevention of the onset of the disease," said a health official who participated at the event.