MEXICO CITY, Jun 02, 2005 (United Press International via COMTEX) — With drastic changes the Mexican diet, exercise patterns and demographics in the last 15 years, diabetes has become a serious concern, public health officials told United Press International.

Widespread diabetes could bankrupt the country’s health system in the next decade, with annual costs of attending to patients with the disease estimated to double within five years, according to a recent report by the Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica.

Moreover, statistics from the Health Secretariat suggest the number of patients with diabetes grew seven times over the past 20 years and has become Mexico’s fourth highest cause of death in the country, and the INSP report, released last month, said the costs of caring for diabetic patients have grown to $317 million annually.

These costs are equivalent to 34 percent of the budget allocated for public health insurance in Mexico in 2005 and will involve more than 43,000 doctors working in the country.

“In the case that the same pattern of increasing cases of diabetes is maintained, the Mexican Institute of Social Security predicts that from 2004 to 2010 the number of patients will increase by 31.3 percent and by the same amount the costs for medical attention,” the INSP report said.

Researchers have noted the rise in diabetes in Mexico for more than 10 years and attribute the spurt to three major factors: changes in traditional diet, reduced exercise and demographic shifts caused by migration.

According to Agustin Lara Esqueda, director of the Health Program for Adults and the Elderly in the Ministry of Health, there are 6.5 million Mexicans with diabetes, of which 35 percent are not yet aware they have contracted the disease.

“The rise in diabetes cannot be attributed to one specific thing — diet, exercise and demographic transition are all key factors,” Lara said in an interview. “To us, the most important tool in fighting diabetes is education and Mexico already has in place one of the best prevention and education programs in the world.”

In a study of the Mexican diet conducted over 15 years, Lara discovered that four elements have changed substantially:

–Consumption of fruits and vegetables has declined by 29 percent;

–consumption of milk derivatives has declined 26 percent;

–consumption of carbohydrates has increased 6.25 percent, and

–consumption of soft drinks has increased 37 percent.

The link between soft-drink consumption and diabetes is one that U.S. public health officials have been documenting. A 2004 study published by the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which included data from 50,000 U.S. nurses, showed those who drank just one serving of soda or fruit punch a day gained weight more quickly than those who drank less than one soda a month. Those who consumed more also had an 80 percent increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.

The risk was linked to those who consumed drinks sweetened with either sugar or high-fructose corn syrup.

In rural communities in Mexico, soft drinks are widely available where other foodstuffs are not. For example, at a small bodega, or convenience shop, in the community of Santa Ana Hueytlalpa in the state of Hidalgo — a town of about 4,000 residents — several soft-drink brands were available, while basic supplies such as rice, milk and meat were not.

An area of Mexico where the diabetes epidemic has most clearly been identified is the border with the United States.

Recent survey results published by the by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, as well as the Mexican Ministry of Health and the Pan American Health Organization, revealed that people living along the U.S.-Mexico border have higher rates of diabetes and are more overweight and obese than national averages in both countries.

The results were compiled from a survey of more than 4,000 people in the border area.

The survey also showed almost 16 percent of border residents suffer from Type 2 diabetes, while the national rate in Mexico is 14.9 percent and in the United States it is 13.9 percent.

Lara said the Mexican government’s efforts to inform its population, particularly with programs such as the Web site todoendiabetes.org, are some of the most progressive in the world.

“Mexico may again be on the list of the ten countries with the most cases of diabetes this year when the results are published in November,” Lara said, “but we have the only binational program in the world (with the United States) and I think we are doing a good job addressing the problem and trying to prevent it.”