Could there be a monetary as well as a health cost to certain people’s lifestyle choices. It has been suggested that Type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90% of all diabetes cases, could account for a quarter of the NHS budget by 2025. If cases increase at there current rate over four million people could be sufferers.

 

Type 2 diabetes can be caused or exacerbated by an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise and being overweight. However it should be pointed out that this is not always the case as some sufferers have a genetic vulnerability.

 

A government minister has suggested that where the disease is a result of the patient’s lifestyle choices then they should make a contribution to the costs of treatment. So what can be do to avoid additional “contributions”, well maybe we all need to take stock of how we live, walk the kids to school instead of taking the car?, having a snack of fruit instead of that bag of crisps or chocolate bar in the evening?, have one evening with no TV so we can participate in a sport?. We can all change our approach to life in little ways and after all a lot of little changes to the way we do things add up to a lot.

 

We are told that it is especially the ‘baby boomer’ generation, and younger who need to look at the way they approach life, as they expect more from the health service than their parents who were more stoic, but with everyone watching the pennies, maybe we have to look at what the older generation achieved with what was available to them. We all rely on technology and what it does for us; but maybe we need to switch it off once in a while and see what the real world outside can offer us: cycling walking, camping, rock climbing, picnics and adventure.

 

Maybe “The Famous Five”, “The Secret Seven” and those “Swallows and Amazons” had something going for them after all and not a mobile phone or laptop in sight!!