The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) estimated that, in Europe 35 million adults had diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) in 2011. This is projected to increase by 103%, to 71.1 million by 2040.

In Europe, type 2 diabetes is likely to reduce life expectancy by up to 10 years. The disease contributes to coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease and end-stage renal disease, making it the fifth leading cause of death worldwide.

Compared with a healthy weight man, an obese man is: five times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes; three times more likely to develop cancer of the colon; more than two and a half times more likely to develop high blood pressure – a major risk factor for stroke and heart disease.

An obese woman, compared with a healthy weight woman, is: almost 13 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes; more than four times more likely to develop high blood pressure; more than three times more likely to have a heart attack.**

* World Health Organization website

** Professor Terence Stephenson in Measuring Up, a 2013 report on the nation’s obesity crisis by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC).

When the body is stressed, the liver produces more glucose under the control of the stress hormone cortisol. For most of us, that would give you the energy for "fight or flight" in an emergency. In many cases, if we don't use all of that extra energy, the body is able to reabsorb the blood sugar. But for some people and in the case of chronic exposure, if cells are insulin resistant, the sugar builds up in the blood, with nowhere to go. That extra blood sugar can cause diabetes.

* American Psychological Association

However, high rates of diabetes are also found among the lower-income groups in many middle and high-income countries. For example, morbidity from diabetes complications is three and a half times higher among the poorest people in the United Kingdom than the richest.

* World Health Organization