Diabetes is a serious long-term health condition that changes the way one’s body processes food and turns it into energy. It is a health struggle all around the world and particularly in the middle east where 73 million adults (between the ages of 20-79) are living with diabetes in the MENA Region in 2021. This figure is estimated to increase to 95 million by 2030 and 136 million by 2045. Also, according to WDI Dataset the top 5 countries with the highest diabetes rates in the world are all located in the MENA Region (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and The UAE).

This aberration is caused by many factors including the genetic make-up of middle easterners (people from the middle east seem genetically more likely to develop diabetes) and the lifestyle and diet of the vast majority of the populations in the region (being conducive to developing the disease). The standard solutions for diabetes include a healthy diet and regular exercise, however in an effort to approach this issue in a Upstream manner, increasing the rates of breastfeeding for toddlers appears to be a serious deterrent for diabetes. Studies show that toddlers that had been exclusively fed breastmilk for at least 6 months were better able to process glucose and insulin thus decreasing their likelihood of developing diabetes in the future. According to the WHO, Exclusive breastfeeding rates in the Middle East are low compared with those in other regions and this is validated by WDI Data that shows that the average exclusive breastfed % of toddlers in the five MENA countries mentioned previously is 29.08%. Compare that to the likes of Rwanda (85%), Croatia (72%) and Chile (70%), countries that have substantially low diabetes rates in their population (4.8%, 5% and 10% respectively) and an association between these two variables appears to show. It seems to appear that countries with high exclusive breastfed % of toddlers (for at least 6 months) seem to have low rates of diabetes prevalence in their populations.

In light of these findings, one can conclude that breastfed babies have a lower risk of developing diabetes therefore decreasing the diabetes rate in the MENA region should start with:

• Educating the people about the additional benefits of breastfeeding
• Aiding and assisting mothers with breastfeeding
• Supporting and promoting breastfeeding through government programs and health oriented NGO’s.