The number of registered cases of type 2 diabetes in people younger than 40 years of age has risen by almost a quarter in five years, a new analysis reveals.

According to NHS data, cases of type 2 diabetes in people younger than 40 years rose by 23 per cent between 2016/17 and 2020/21. This compares with a 17 per cent rise in all diabetes registrations during the same time. Diabetes UK predicts that 200,000 people in the UK aged between 18 and 39 years could be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes by 2027, up from 148,000 in 2020/21.   

Meanwhile, research from Diabetes UK and Tesco reveals that 57 per cent of people aged between 18-39 years who did not have diabetes had deprioritised their health because of the cost-of-living crisis. 

Almost a quarter (23 per cent) avoided or delayed medical checks; 68 per cent didn’t know how to check if they were at risk of type 2 diabetes and 65 per cent didn’t know or weren’t sure about the symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

Only a third to a quarter of people without diabetes knew that type 2 diabetes could lead to amputations, strokes and depression.