RESIDENTS of one central Victorian town are among the most likely people in the state to suffer from type two diabetes, new data has revealed.
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Maryborough adults have the region's highest rate of type two diabetes at 10.7 per cent in 2018, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare statistics show.
This was the 18th highest rate of type two diabetes among Australia's hundreds of population health areas.
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Only one Victorian population health area had a higher rate of diabetes than Maryborough.
Across Australia 5.9 per cent of adults had type two diabetes, which if not controlled can raise people's risk of heart attack, stroke, blindness and limb amputation.
Areas with higher rates of diabetes tended to have a higher proportion of their population living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas, the AIHW said.
They also had on average higher risk health profiles for other factors.
Maryborough's risk profile showed its population had higher rates of uncontrolled high blood pressure, obesity, smoking, and insufficient activity than the Victorian average.
A total of 43.5 per cent of Maryborough's residents are obese, compared to 31.8 per cent Victoria-wide.
Maryborough's municipality the Central Goldfields had the highest obesity rate in Victoria in 2019.
The AIHW data showed Maryborough adults also had higher rates of heart disease, stroke and vascular disease, and of chronic kidney disease, than the statewide average.
Most risk factors such as obesity, smoking and chronic diseases were also higher than average across nearly all of central Victoria.
Nearly all rural central Victorians were more likely to have type two diabetes than those living in the regional centre of Bendigo, the AIHW data showed.
Loddon, Heathcote, the area around Maryborough, Avoca and Beaufort, and the area around Rochester, Kyabram and Rushworth also all had higher diabetes rates than the state's average, or than Bendigo areas.
Several areas within Greater Bendigo had type two diabetes rates above the Victorian average, including the Kangaroo Flat Golden Square area, and California Gully.
In contrast, Bendigo, Maiden Gully, and Strathfieldsaye had rates below the state's average.
Type two diabetes is a chronic health condition marked by less effective use of insulin to regulate blood sugar in a person's body.
It's often a progressive condition, which if not controlled can cause complications such as heart attacks and strokes, preventable blindness, kidney failure or amputations.
Population health areas are a statistical tool used to map health data across Australia, they consist of breakdowns of larger statistical areas.
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