Some A 868.6 million was spent on ingredients for diabetes sufferers during the last year, an increase of A 65.5 million on the previous 12 months , according to the Health and Social Care Information Centre . There are 3.9 million people in the UK with type 2 diabetes – the most common kind – which is linked to increasing levels of obesity, unhealthy diets and a lack of exercise, with a further 590,000 people estimated to have not yet been diagnosed.