Metabolic Health

Mauritius Becomes First Nation to Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Prevalence Over 34 Years

A repeated cross-sectional study tracking over 36,000 adults in Mauritius from 1987 to 2021 using the gold-standard oral glucose tolerance test found that type 2 diabetes prevalence peaked at 23.3% in 2009 and then declined significantly to 19.9% by 2021. Intermediate hyperglycemia followed the same arc, falling to 15.6%. Crucially, the proportion of undiagnosed diabetics dropped from 67% to 32.5%, suggesting better detection and treatment. This makes Mauritius the first country to demonstrate a sustained, population-level reversal of type 2 diabetes burden using objective diagnostic criteria. The findings show that sustained national prevention and monitoring efforts can meaningfully reduce metabolic disease — a critical message for aging populations worldwide facing surging diabetes rates.