TYPE 2 DIABETES is rising twice as fast in women under 40-years-old, compared with women over the age of 40, new analysis from Diabetes UK has shown.
Type 2 diabetes diagnoses rose by 47% between 2017/18 and 2023/24 among women under 40.
Alternatively, it rose by 22% in women aged 40 to 79.
During the same period, diagnoses in men under 40 increased by 34%.
Type 2 Diabetes in Younger Populations
Diabetes UK noted that when Type 2 diabetes develops in younger people, the condition is more aggressive and fosters more acute health impacts.
Colette Marshall, Chief Executive Officer, Diabetes UK, London, UK, said: “These figures should be a wake-up call.
“Type 2 diabetes is rising twice as fast in younger women compared to older women, and a crucial opportunity for prevention is being missed.
“Every diagnosis is life-changing, but when it develops in younger people, Type 2 diabetes is even more aggressive.”
Gestational Diabetes
The organisation is concerned about the follow-up care currently offered to women who have had gestational diabetes (GDM), which increases the risk of post-pregnancy Type 2 diabetes.
In a national GDM audit spanning 2024/45, published by the NHS last year, only 57% of women with GDM received an annual HbA1c test.
A mere 4.5% of women received support through the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.
The new data also revealed that 11% of women developed prediabetes within five years of having GDM.
Marshall added: “Pregnancy should not be a pathway to ill health.
“Yet despite facing a much higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, too many women with GDM receive little or no follow-up care after pregnancy.”
A Call for Change
Diabetes UK has called for consistent postnatal follow-ups for women after GDM and more referrals to the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme.
It also demands health services to be held accountable for improvements in postnatal care for women who have had GDM.
Further, it highlighted the need for inequities in care to be addressed in diabetes care, particularly for women from deprived and minority ethnic communities.
Reference
Diabetes UK. Type 2 diabetes rises twice as fast in younger women compared to older women, our data shows. 2026. Available at: https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/news-and-views/type-2-diabetes-rises-twice-fast-younger-women-compared-older-women. Last accessed 8 June 2026.
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