Fast facts from the obesity action coalition
• Stretch for 10 minutes every morning to reduce stress, decrease risk of heart attack, and improve your circulation.
• Drinking a glass of water before meals can help you to feel fuller and eat less.
• Only one in five adults gets the recommended amount of weekly exercise. Are you making fitness a priority in your healthy lifestyle?
• People tend to underestimate the number of calories they eat in a fast food meal, with more than 25 percent off by at least 500 calories.
• People who laugh often are healthier than those who laugh rarely.
According to the Center for Disease Control, we are eating ourselves into a diabetes epidemic. The International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) says that, “Diabetes and obesity are the biggest public health challenge of the 21st century.” The supporting statistics they cite are staggering:
As of 1999, diabetes affected 16 million (six percent) of Americans – an increase of 40 percent in just ten years.
During the same period, the obesity rate climbed from 12 percent to almost 20 percent.
Last year the diabetes and obesity rates increased 6 percent and 57 percent.
Every three seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.
Of the children born in 2000, one in three will eventually develop diabetes.
Although both diabetes and obesity risk factors are often associated with race, age, and family history, it’s becoming more and more clear that the conveniences of modern life also contribute to the development of both diseases.
For example, sedentary lifestyles (reduced physical activity) and the popularity of high fat, high energy diets (think “Super Size Me”) and convenient foods are known to lead to obesity – but do they also cause diabetes?
Is There a Link Between Obesity and Diabetes?
Of the people diagnosed with type II diabetes, about 80 to 90 percent are also diagnosed as obese. This fact provides an interesting clue to the link between diabetes and obesity. Understanding what causes the disease will hopefully allow us to prevent diabetes in the future.
Being overweight places extra stress on your body in a variety of ways, including your body’s ability to maintain proper blood glucose levels. In fact, being overweight can cause your body to become resistant to insulin. If you already have diabetes, this means you will need to take even more insulin to get sugar into your cells. And if you don’t have diabetes, the prolonged effects of the insulin resistance can eventually cause you to develop the disease.
According to the Center for Disease Control, we are eating ourselves into a diabetes epidemic. The International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) says that, “Diabetes and obesity are the biggest public health challenge of the 21st century.” The supporting statistics they cite are staggering:
As of 1999, diabetes affected 16 million (six percent) of Americans – an increase of 40 percent in just ten years.
During the same period, the obesity rate climbed from 12 percent to almost 20 percent.
Last year the diabetes and obesity rates increased 6 percent and 57 percent.
Every three seconds, someone is diagnosed with diabetes.
Of the children born in 2000, one in three will eventually develop diabetes.
Although both diabetes and obesity risk factors are often associated with race, age, and family history, it’s becoming more and more clear that the conveniences of modern life also contribute to the development of both diseases.
For example, sedentary lifestyles (reduced physical activity) and the popularity of high fat, high energy diets (think “Super Size Me”) and convenient foods are known to lead to obesity – but do they also cause diabetes?
Is There a Link Between Obesity and Diabetes?
Of the people diagnosed with type II diabetes, about 80 to 90 percent are also diagnosed as obese. This fact provides an interesting clue to the link between diabetes and obesity. Understanding what causes the disease will hopefully allow us to prevent diabetes in the future.
Being overweight places extra stress on your body in a variety of ways, including your body’s ability to maintain proper blood glucose levels. In fact, being overweight can cause your body to become resistant to insulin. If you already have diabetes, this means you will need to take even more insulin to get sugar into your cells. And if you don’t have diabetes, the prolonged effects of the insulin resistance can eventually cause you to develop the disease.