[Lower incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus with changes in lifestyle: clues from World War II].

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the relation between diabetes and food consumption on a population level.

DESIGN

Retrospective, descriptive.

METHOD

Data were collected from the archives of the Public Health Service of Amsterdam and the diabetes aftercare outpatient clinic ('Diabetes Nazorg') in Utrecht, the Netherlands, to determine the incidence of diabetes between 1940 and 1950. The number of outpatient visits for newly-diagnosed diabetes in Amsterdam and Utrecht were used to investigate whether the incidence of diabetes decreased during World War II, when food was scarce.

RESULTS

Between 1940 and 1945 there was a considerable decrease in the incidence of diabetes in the Netherlands. The number of outpatient consultations at the Public Health Service of Amsterdam for newly-diagnosed diabetes declined from 140 in 1940 (18% of the total number of consultations) to only 3 in 1940 (2%). This figure rose to 112 (21%) in 1949.

CONCLUSION

The marked decrease in the number of new cases of diabetes during the last years ofWorld War II supports the hypothesis that shortage of food induced a decrease in the incidence of type 2 diabetes in The Netherlands.