Obesity, diabetes rates show rapid rise in Estonia

Triin Eglit, researcher at the department of internal medicine at the University of Tartu, finds in her PhD thesis that the prevalence of obesity among the Estonian adult population (32 percent) was significantly higher than previously estimated, reports LETA.

The prevalence of obesity, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes has increased considerably in recent decades throughout the world, having a serious impact on health through complications. A population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in three different counties of Estonia. The study population (495 subjects) consisted of randomly selected adults, aged 20–74 years and was representative of the general Estonian population in terms of age and gender.

"Of the Estonian adult population 20 percent had impaired glucose regulation: the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance and diabetes was five, eight and seven percent, respectively. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 26 percent. Younger men had a significantly higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome compared with younger women, whereas there were no gender-specific differences in the older age groups," added Eglit.