Diabetes mellitus in an urban population in Jakarta, Indonesia

The prevalence of diabetes in an urban population in Koja Utara subdistrict of Jakarta is 1.63%. The prevalence of diabetes increases with age. The tendency toward bimodality in the 55-64 age group of our study lends support to the usefulness of the WHO criteria 1980. There is no difference between the sexes. Male to female ratio was 1.2:1. There is a higher prevalence of diabetes among the obese, and the obese and overweight comprise 65.9% of diabetics. Obesity seems to be an important risk factor in the development of diabetes. There was a higher prevalence of diabetes in the high socio-economic level group than in the low one. The group of Chinese origin showed a higher prevalence of diabetes than the other groups. A positive family history of diabetes was found in 27% of our diabetic patients. Dietary recall analysis revealed no significant difference in the percentage of carbohydrate, protein, fat, or in the percentage of refined carbohydrate. However, total caloric intake was significantly higher in the high socio-economic-diabetic group. Total caloric intake seemed to be more important than quantitative dietary factors.