Diabetes and pregnancy in New Zealand

New Zealand is a developed nation with a land mass of 270,500 km2 over two major islands (North Island and South Island). The population of 3,737,277 in 2001 included 2,868,009 of European descent (predominantly from the British Isles), 526,281 Maori (indigenous Polynesians who arrived mainly between 800 and 1200 AD), 231,801 Pacific peoples (mainly from Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Niue and Tokelau Islands from the 1960s) and 237,459 Asians (who have arrived since the nineteenth century, but particularly in the 1990s). The high prevalence of Type 2 diabetes among Maori was first reported in the early 1960s. Subsequently, an increasing prevalence of diabetes among Tokelauan immigrants to New Zealand was found compared with those who remained in the islands. The growth in numbers with diabetes across New Zealand Europeans, Maori and Pacific people became apparent from studies in South Auckland and data relating to complications (e.g. renal failure) in the 1990s. Subsequent data has shown that this epidemic of diabetes is continuing unabated and now includes Asians.