This blog was authored by Dr. Hamed Kioumarsi, who specializes in bioscience.
It is estimated that more than 40% of individuals suffering from diabetes remain undiagnosed worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) hopes to reduce this percentage, aiming to have 80% of individuals diagnosed by 2030. While being diagnosed is an important step to receiving treatment, how can we intervene before the disease escalates to the point of a diagnosis?
Diabetes does not arise overnight. The pathways leading up to its biological and metabolic development may remain latent for several years as a result of many factors that come together in complex ways – genetics, nutrition, physical activity, body composition, sociocultural influences, and environmental contexts. Thus, when a diagnosis is made, it may become too late to take preventive measures.
It is in this context that the theme chosen for World Diabetes Day 2026—"Early action on diabetes" — becomes particularly relevant for the community of nutrition scientists and researchers. Early diagnosis, improved access to services, risk reduction, and better environments are the priorities of the campaign.
The question is then posed to all the nutrition scientists and practitioners: can we shift from post-diagnosis response to early risk detection in order to prevent the development of the disease?
Nutrition is part of the early-action equation
There is no one food, nutrient or behavior that causes diabetes. The development of type 2 diabetes has several determinant factors. However, diet remains an important factor in its prevention.
As such, nutrition research should move on from investigating individual nutrients to analyzing entire diets and the environments that affect diets. Emerging evidence highlights the importance of considering nutrition when examining metabolic pathways and disease risks, supporting the value of evidence-based nutritional approaches in disease prevention.
When looking at recent studies, it is clear nutrition cannot only be considered as a component of diabetes care after the diagnosis of the condition. It should be applied much earlier along the prevention pathway.
The implication is important: early action on diabetes should begin before diabetes becomes the central clinical problem.
Early detection should be accompanied by nutritional action
A diabetes diagnosis is just a start. For achieving good outcomes, there has to be timely, affordable medical care, as well as improved nutrition environments and physical activity options, which would help prevent type 2 diabetes.
Nutrition becomes relevant at all stages of this issue – prevention and risk reduction as well as treatment of the disease.
The identification of those people who possess high metabolic risk will help open up possibilities for targeted nutritional counseling and interventions. As for the patients with diabetes diagnosis, the nutrition guidance will become useful for their pharmacotherapy and the management of cardiovascular and other metabolic risk factors. What is more important, this type of intervention has to be personalized and culturally appropriate, rather than general dietary recommendations.
A single dietary recommendation may be less effective if people lack access to healthy foods, cannot afford them or if the food is not appropriate to their culture.
Therefore, the future of diabetes prevention will be not only based on the question of what people should eat, but also on the knowledge about why and how people eat.
From individual choices to healthier food environments
If attention was given only to individual responsibility, then structural factors disrupting food intake would remain unattended. Factors like food cost, availability, advertising methods, urbanization, work environment, education, and socio-economic status could influence food choices. Therefore, diabetes prevention is both an individual and a public health issue.
Provisioning a nutritious-focused environment that helps people make informed decisions about their food choices can lead to healthier diets and could help prevent the development of the disease. Schools, workplaces, healthcare facilities, communities can be effective nutrition promotion settings.
Early action and the Sustainable Development Goals
The dietary factors associated with diabetes prevention are closely linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The most direct connection is SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, particularly Target 3.4, which aims to reduce premature deaths from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment. Healthy dietary habits, early diagnosis, and risk reduction can contribute to this goal. SDG 2: Zero Hunger is also closely related, as food security, access to nutritious foods, and sustainable food systems are essential for good health and can support the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
The opportunity is before diagnosis
World Diabetes Day 2026 provides the chance to re-think what "early action" actually means.
It means identifying the risk factors before any complications arise. It means improving nutrition as preventive measure. It means diagnosing diabetes prior to experiencing years of uncontrolled high blood sugar levels. It means providing affordable, science-based and personalized treatment following a diagnosis.
The lesson is quite simple for the nutrition community – it is never too early for prevention and nutrition cannot be viewed outside of its wider social and environmental contexts. In order to ensure healthier populations in 2030 and beyond, we need to think upstream – about diet, food environment and opportunities for early interventions.
References
World Health Organization. (2026). World Diabetes Day 2026: Early action on diabetes. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2024). Diabetes. World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2021). Global diabetes compact. World Health Organization.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Goal 3: Good health and well-being. United Nations.
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). Goal 2: Zero hunger. United Nations.
Kirkpatrick, S. I., & Collins, C. E. (2017). Advancing the evidence to improve the nutrition of populations: A refreshed vision and scope for Nutrition Journal. Nutrition Journal, 16, 45.
Kioumarsi, H., & Liu, B. (2025). Celebrating World Cancer Day: Innovative Biological Approaches to Cancer and their Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Biological procedures online, 27(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12575-025-00263-8
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