World Diabetes Day is celebrated worldwide including Pakistan on November 14 every year under the auspices of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
The purpose of celebrating this day is to spread awareness around the world and the date was picked as it’s also Sir Frederick Banting’s birthday who was the inventor of insulin.
The World Diabetes Day was first observed in 1991 by the IDF and the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise public awareness about the dangers of diabetes and the timely treatment of diabetes.
Each year, the IDF gives a title to World Day, which aims to raise awareness about the common causes, causes, prevention and regular treatment of diabetes, and this year the theme for World Diabetes Day 2021-23 is “Access to Diabetes Care – If Not Now, When?”.
According to the IDF, “Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas is no longer able to make insulin, or when the body cannot make good use of the insulin it produces.”
IDF recommended healthy diet for the general population:
- Choosing water, coffee or tea instead of fruit juice, soda, or other sugar-sweetened beverages.
- Eating at least three servings of vegetables every day, including green leafy vegetables.
- Eating up to three servings of fresh fruit every day.
- Choosing nuts, a piece of fresh fruit, or unsweetened yoghurt for a snack.
- Limiting alcohol intake to a maximum of two standard drinks per day.
- Choosing lean cuts of white meat, poultry or seafood instead of red or processed meat.
- Choosing peanut butter instead of chocolate spread or jam.
- Choosing whole-grain bread, rice, or pasta instead of white bread, rice, or pasta.
- Choosing unsaturated fats (olive oil, canola oil, corn oil, or sunflower oil) instead of saturated fats (butter, ghee, animal fat, coconut oil or palm oil).