Diabetes and Childhood Obesity are Linked

Today’s young generation is getting fatter and fatter. This is due to their unhealthy lifestyle. The days of home cooked meals and lots of play time in the backyard or in the park are long gone. Nowadays eating huge fast food meals and laying at the computer all day long is the norm. That is why more and more children are obese.

Obesity, regardless of your age, comes with lots of health risks. The biggest problem obese children and adults have to tackle is diabetes. I’m not talking about type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes isn’t curable and you have to take insulin shots for the rest of your days if you have it because your pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin.

What I am talking about is type 2 diabetes. In type two diabetes you have a very high blood sugar level, making it very hard for your pancreas to handle it. Your pancreas just can’t produce enough insulin to take care of all the carbs and sugars you have running around your body. This is due to eating lots of unhealthy meals that are full of carbs and sugar. All fast food is that way.

Type two diabetes is the number 6 killer of Americans, and more and more children develop it early in their life. If your child is obese you should go and find out his blood sugar level just to be on the safe side. Regardless of the result, if your child is overweight you should do whatever it takes to help him lose weight.

The lowering of the blood sugar level and weight loss go hand in hand just as gaining weight and a high blood sugar level do. The best way to help your child lose weight is by being a good role model. Start making healthy home cooked meals with plenty of fruits and vegetables in them. Start exercising and involve your child too. In fact exercising is a great way to bond with your child and create pleasant memories. Find a sport that you both like to practice and start doing it at least twice a week.

Besides getting diabetes, obese children develop other health risks too. For example people who were obese in their childhood are more likely to suffer strokes while in their 20’s or 30’s. That’s 30 years before older generations are expected to get them.

Dr. Howard Shapiro says "Kids at the age of 12 are getting adult-onset diabetes". He also days that "One-third of everybody born in 2005 will have some form of diabetes.". That is huge. The ramifications of the health effect of such a widespread diabetes proliferation in the young generations cannot be fully comprehended, but can’t be good. From his new book, Eat & Beat Diabetes with Picture Perfect Weight Loss: The Visual Program to Prevent and Control Diabetes, written by Dr Shapiro and chef Franklin Becker, you can get a simple and healthy action plan that both children and adults can use to lose weight and beat diabetes. If you have the opportunity check it out.

If you want help you children be healthier and live a long healthy life please help them get healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle. From doing this your children will benefit and you will benefit also.

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