Sharp rise in diabetes among people under 40, says report
The new figures from Diabetes UK show that cases of type 2 diabetes among under-40s have increased to 168,000 from 120,000 in 2016/17
By Shajil KumarMay 22, 2024
With two in three adults overweight in the UK, there has been a 39 per cent rise in the number of people under 40 being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the last six years, according to media reports.
The new figures from Diabetes UK show that cases of type 2 diabetes among under-40s have increased to almost 168,000 from 120,000 in 2016/17.
Diagnoses are rising at a significantly faster pace than among over-40s, for whom the increase was 25 per cent in six years, and people from black and South Asian backgrounds are at a greater risk.
Diabetes UK chief executive Colette Marshall said the rise in type 2 diabetes among children and young adults was alarming and called on ministers to urgently address the crisis.
She said the changes in food habits over the last 25 years was taking a toll on our health. They are increasingly high in fat, salt and sugar.
This combined with genetic factors and stark inequalities was driving up obesity and increasing diabetes risk, she added.
The report blamed “gross inequalities”, with people from the most deprived areas and those from black and South Asian backgrounds more likely to develop the condition.
It said that ultra-processed foods and products high in fat, sugar and salt had become “normalised” in children’s diets, with poorer parents powerless to curb them.
It said people faced a more aggressive and acute form of diabetes when it developed at a younger age. They are at an increased risk of falling prey to heart and kidney ailments, sight loss and even an early death, it added.
The report said thousands are living with the condition undiagnosed. Analysis suggests half of the people aged 16 to 44 with type 2 diabetes are unaware they have it.
The report warned about the growing impact on the economy, with 43,000 people out of work as a result of long-term sickness “primarily because of their diabetes, a 79 per cent increase since 2019”.
The number of people living with diabetes in the UK now tops 5 million.
Health minister Andrew Stephenson said the government was committed to tackling the causes and effects of type 2 diabetes.
He said the government has reduced sugar in everyday foods, introduced mandatory calorie labelling on menus, and expanded the NHS soups and shakes programme to help thousands more people.
However, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has attacked the Conservatives for being soft on junk food advertising.
Britain has one of the highest obesity rates in Europe and the NHS spends £6 billion a year treating obesity-related ill-health.
Lucky Jain’s grandma’s popcorn from Gujarat is now selling out everywhere.
Ditched the influencer route and began posting hilarious videos online.
Available in Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala, all vegan and gluten-free
Lucky Jainspent 18 months on a list. Thousands of names. Influencers with follower counts that looked like phone numbers. He was going to launch his grandmother's popcorn the right way: send free bags, wait for posts, pray for traction. That's the playbook, right? That's what you do when you're a nobody selling something nobody asked for.
Then one interaction made him snap. The entitlement. The self-importance. The way some food blogger treated his family's recipe like a favour they were doing him. He looked at his spreadsheet. Closed it. Picked up his phone and decided to burn it all down.
Now he makes videos mocking the same people he was going to beg for help. Influencers weeping over the wrong luxury car. Creators demanding payment for chewing food on camera. Someone having a breakdown about ice cubes. And guess what? The internet ate it up. His popcorn keeps selling out. And from Gujarat, his grandmother's 60-year-old recipe is now moving units because her grandson got mad enough to be funny about it.
Lucky Jain’s grandma’s popcorn from Gujarat is now selling out everywhere Instagram/daadisnacks
The kitchen story
Daadi means grandmother in Hindi. Jay's daadi came to America from Gujarat decades ago. Every weekend, she made popcorn with the spices she grew up with, including cardamom, cinnamon, and chilli mixes. It was her way of keeping home close while living somewhere that didn't taste like it.
Jay wanted that in stores. Wanted brown faces in the snack aisle. It didn’t happen overnight. It took a couple of years to get from a family recipe to something they could actually sell. Everyone pitched in, including his grandmom, uncle, mum. The spices come from small local farmers. There are just two flavours for now, Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala. It’s all vegan and gluten-free, packed in bright bags that instantly feel South Asian.
The videos don't look like marketing. They look like someone venting at 11 PM after scrolling too long. He nails the nasal influencer voice. The fake sympathy. “I can’t believe this,” he says in that exaggerated influencer tone, “they gave me the cheaper car, only eighty grand instead of one-twenty.” That clip alone blew up, pulling in close to nine million views.
Most people don't know they're watching a snack brand. They think it's social commentary. Jay never calls himself an influencer. He says he’s a creator, period. There’s a difference, and he makes sure people know it. His TikTok has around three hundred thousand followers, Instagram about half that. The comments read like a sigh of relief, people fed up with fake polish, finally hearing someone say what everyone else was thinking.
This fits into something called deinfluencing; people pushing back against the buy-everything-trust-nobody cycle. But Jay's version has teeth. He's naming names, calling out the economics. Big venture money flows to chains with good lighting. Family businesses with actual stories get ignored because their content isn't slick enough.
Jay watched his New York neighbourhood change. Chains moved in. Influencers posted about places that had funding and were aesthetic. The old spots, the family ones, got left behind. His videos are about that gap. The erosion of local culture by money and aesthetics.
"Big chains and VC-funded businesses are promoted at the expense of local ones," he said. His content doesn't just roast influencers. It promotes other small food makers who can't afford to play the game. He positions Daadi as a defender of something real against something plastic.
And it's working. Not just philosophically. Financially. The videos drive traffic. People click through, try the popcorn, come back. The company can't keep stock. That's the proof.
Daadi popcorn features authentic Gujarat flavours like Sweet Chai and Spicy Masala, all vegan and gluten-free Daadi Snacks
The blowback
People unfollow because they think he's too harsh. Jay's take: "I would argue I need to be meaner."
In May, he posted that he's not chasing content creation money like most people at his follower count. "I post to speak my mind and help my family's snack biz." That's a different model. Most brands pay influencers to make everything look perfect. They chase viral polish, and Jay does the opposite. In fact, he weaponises rawness and treats criticism like a product feature.
The internet mostly backs him. Reddit threads light up with support. One commenter was "toxic influencers choking on their matcha lattes searching their Balenciaga bags." Another: "Influencers are boring and unoriginal and can get bent." The anger is shared. Jay simply gave it a microphone and a snack to buy.
Jay's success says something about where things are going. People are done with curated perfection. They can smell the artificiality now. They respond to brands that feel like humans rather than committees. Daadi doesn't sell aspiration. Doesn't sell a lifestyle. Sells popcorn and a point of view.
The quality matters, including the spices, the sourcing, and the family behind it. But the edge matters too. He’s not afraid to say what most brands tiptoe around. “We just show who we are,” Jay says. “No pretending, no gloss. People can feel that and that’s when they reach for the popcorn.”
Most small businesses can't afford to play the traditional game. Can't pay influencers. Can't hire agencies. Can't fake their way into feeds. Maybe they don't need to. Maybe honesty and humour can cut through if they're sharp enough. If the product backs it up. If the story is real and the person telling it isn't trying to sound like a PR script.
This started with a list Jay didn't use. The business took off the moment he stopped trying to play by the usual rules and started speaking his mind. Turns out, honesty sells. And yes, the popcorn really does taste good.
Daadi Snacks merch dropInstagram/daadisnacks
The question is whether this scales. Whether other small businesses watch this and realise they don't need to beg for attention from people who don't care. Right now, Daadi keeps selling out. People keep watching. The grandmother's recipe that was supposed to need influencer approval is doing fine without it. Better than fine. Turns out the most effective marketing strategy might just be giving a damn and not being afraid to show it.
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