Saudi's sweet tooth gone sour! Half the population will be diabetic by 2030

Half of the Kingdom’s population will be diabetic by 2030, doctors warned during the International Diabetes Conference, which opened in Al-Khobar on Thursday. 

Doctors are afraid that the disease will become an epidemic by 2030 and lead to increase in cardiology, brain stroke and kidney diseases as well as certain kinds of cancer. 

The Saudi Diabetes and Endocrine Association said the Kingdom is among the countries with the highest rates of diabetes and obesity, both of which have dangerous complications on health, social and economic levels. 

Over the past 30 years, diabetes has spread from 2 percent of the population to 13 percent, while obesity affects around one-third of men and women, according to a health official in Riyadh. 

The city is organizing a public run next month to promote a more active lifestyle as part of efforts to tackle the rising levels of obesity. 

The “Run 4 Riyadh” will take place on Feb. 28 from King Abdullah Park to Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium, a distance of over 5 kilometers.