India has 10.1 crore diabetics (ICMR–INDIAB, 2023), with rising incidence among younger, urban, working-age adults.

Relation between Workplace stress and diabetes risk:

• Chronic Stress: It keeps the body in a state of heightened alert, leading to elevated levels of cortisol and adrenaline.
  • These high hormone levels disrupt normal glucose metabolism & body is encouraged to favor fat accumulation, particularly around the abdomen (central weight gain).
• Long commute hours: Reduces time for exercise and rest.
• Irregular meal timing and sedentary work environments: Directly affects digestive processes and calorie utilization.
• Shift Work (especially night shifts): Disrupts circadian rhythms, which govern metabolism. When sleep and meal timing are irregular, insulin sensitivity drops, leading to unstable blood sugar profiles.

About Diabetes:

• Chronic non communicable disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. 
  • Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood glucose.

Major Types of Diabetes

• Type 1 Diabetes: Autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
• Type 2 Diabetes: Body’s cells become insulin resistant; pancreas cannot produce enough insulin to compensate.
• Gestational Diabetes: Due to High blood glucose during pregnancy.