Our obsession with junk food is creating a type 2 diabetes crisis
Dr James Meucke was Australian of the year in 2020 but his warning about type 2 diabetes – a “looming catastrophe” – was swamped by COVID. Now he wants subsidies to big junk food slashed.
“Suddenly went blind”: Neil Hansell (left) who suffers with diabetes and was diagnosed with diagnosed severe macular oedema by Dr James Muecke. Roy VanDerVegt
When former prime minister Scott Morrison announced Dr James Muecke as Australian of the year on a January night in Canberra in 2020, the recipient was delighted, honoured and surprised. But possibly not as surprised as those present when the Adelaide ophthalmologist, after a few words of thanks, launched into a speech that was more attack than acceptance.
His target was the class of soluble, crystalline, sweet-tasting carbohydrates that we call sugar. More pointedly, the deleterious effect of sugar on human health. “This year,” he said, “I want to challenge our perception of sugar, our relationship with sugar, and the impact that it has on the development of diabetes.”
