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 Paci.