title: Rapidly increasing diabetes-related mortality with socio-environmental changes in South Korea during the last two decades.
abstract: Diabetes mellitus is the result of complex interactions involving many genes and environmental factors, and rapid socio-environmental changes have been strongly associated with the development of diabetes. In this study, we examined the trends in diabetes mortality and associated socio-environmental changes that have occurred in South Korea over the last 20 years. Data from a national database and government reports for the years from 1983 to 2001 were analyzed. The data included mortality, socio-economic changes, physical activity and dietary pattern indicators. Deaths from diabetes per 100,000 people increased from 5.3 in 1983 to 18.4 in 2001. Along with increasing diabetes-related mortality, many socio-economic indices (gross domestic production, proportion of tertiary industry and urbanization rate), proxies for physical activity (numbers of cars and time spent watching television) and diet indices (animal protein intake and fat intake) showed remarkable changes. To counter increasing prevalence of diabetes and its related mortality in South Korea, multidirectional efforts including lifestyle modification should be mandatory features of future public health policy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 28 Yongon-dong Chongno-gu, Seoul 110-744, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Young Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Young Min
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Chul Ku
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hak Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Kyong Soo
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Seong Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hong Kyu
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000401:mortality*; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D009043:Motor Activity; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology