Dubai: Long hours at a desk, frequent takeaway meals, sugary drinks, and limited exercise could be putting more young UAE residents at risk of Type 2 diabetes.
Doctors are increasingly seeing insulin resistance, prediabetes, and Type 2 diabetes among people in their 20s and 30s, challenging the perception that the condition mainly affects older adults.
According to the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas, approximately 1.27 million adults in the UAE have been living with diabetes in 2024. This has represented around one in six adults aged 20 to 79, with an age-adjusted prevalence of 20.7 percent.
Specialists have warned that the condition can develop silently over several years, meaning many people may have elevated blood sugar without experiencing symptoms.
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Risk starts early
Dr. Yousef Said, medical director at Metabolic, has noted that the growing prevalence of metabolic problems among younger people was particularly concerning.
“What concerns us most is that Type 2 diabetes is no longer a condition we should associate only with older people,” Said told Gulf News.
Research involving more than 33,000 Emirati men aged 18 to 29 has found that 4.7 percent had diabetes, while 41.3 percent had impaired fasting glucose.
