Obesity and type 2 diabetes represent a serious threat to the health of the population of almost every country in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that 1.1 million people died as a result of diabetes in 2005, and this is almost certainly an underestimate. Moreover, the figure is expected to increase by 50% during the next ten years.

This escalation is due in part to increasing rates of childhood obesity. Until recently, type 2 diabetes was a disease that afflicted only adults. Now a growing number of children are being diagnosed with obesity-related type 2 diabetes. Also increasing is the incidence of 'metabolic syndrome' — a complex condition linked to obesity that is characterized by a cluster of closely related clinical features, including insulin resistance, dyslipidaemia and hypertension. Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which is ultimately responsible for a considerable proportion of diabetic mortality.

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