Unhealthy eating habits and sedentary lifestyle is taking toll on health of people in the UK. Recent study revealed that there was a 74% rise in new cases of diabetes from 1997 to 2003.

But majority of cases are type 2 diabetes linked to obesity. Moreover number of diabetics is increasing at faster pace in UK as compared to US. Researchers analyzed the data from almost five million medical records

Data revealed that out of more than 42,642 people newly diagnosed diabetes cases between 1996 and 2005 only 1,250 had the "insulin-dependent" type 1 diabetes. More than 41,000 had later-onset type 2 disease.

The numbers of new cases of type 2 diabetes has increased from 2.60 to 4.31 cases per 1,000 patient years, equivalent to an increase of 69% over the decade.

The researchers said: "Our results suggest that, although the incidence of diabetes remains lower in the UK than in the USA or Canada, it appears to be increasing at a faster pace."