Nearly 60 per cent who visited a Type 2 diabetes roadshow in Harrow were found to be at risk of developing the condition.

The Know Your Risk Roadshow, by Diabetes UK in partnership with Tesco, identified 123 people out of the 210 seen to be at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and referred them to their GP surgery for further tests and support.

Roz Rosenblatt, Diabetes UK Regional Head for London, said the figures are a cause for grave concern with 14,919 people already being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in Harrow.

She said: "We are very concerned that so many people in Harrow are at risk of Type 2 diabetes.

"This is a serious health condition that, left untreated or poorly managed, can lead to potential devastating complications such as blindness, amputation and stroke.

"A key step to addressing the rising number of people with Type 2 diabetes is identifying people who are at risk of developing the condition and giving them the support they need to reduce that risk.

"As many as three out of five cases of Type 2 diabetes can be delayed or even prevented through adopting a healthy lifestyle.

"Finding out their risk of getting Type 2 diabetes, means the 123 people who attended the roadshow in Harrow are now aware of lifestyle changes they can adopt, such as eating more healthily and taking more exercise to maintain a healthy weight, to delay or even prevent them from getting Type 2 diabetes.

"We want to help as many people as possible to find out their risk of this serious health condition so that they can take positive steps today that give them the best chance of living a long and healthy life."

Unlike Type 1 diabetes which is not linked to lifestyle and cannot be prevented, the most important risk factor for developing Type 2 diabetes is being overweight or obese, especially for those who are large around your middle.

People can change this by maintaining a healthy weight through eating a healthy diet and taking regular exercise. Other risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, which cannot be changed, are ethnicity – being African-Caribbean, Black African, South Asian – being aged over 40 or over 25 if you are South Asian, and having a parent, child, brother or sister who has diabetes.

In the UK, there are four million people who have diabetes, of which 549,000 have Type 2 diabetes but do not know it as they have not yet been diagnosed.

With these figures set to rise it’s crucial that people find out their risk and make changes now to delay or even prevent developing this serious health condition.

Anyone who was unable to attend the Roadshow in Harrow can find out their risk of Type 2 diabetes online at diabetes.org.uk/knowyourrisk.