Adult Onset Diabetes
“In September 2010, I chaired our annual meeting of 4000 pediatric endocrinologists who gathered in New York to discuss common concerns. Prominent among the topics was Type 2 diabetes, formerly called Adult Onset Diabetes, now renamed to address what will certainly become an epidemic. The consensus was that many of our young patients have diabetes resulting from obesity. African American, Hispanic and Indian children are TWICE as likely to contract this disease. The public should know that Type 2 diabetes is a serious, life- threatening disease. Symptoms include: excessive thirst, excessive urination, fatigue, blurry vision, increased risk of infection, poor wound healing and altered mental states which can lead to kidney failure, blindness, heart disease and nerve damage.” — Paul Saenger MD, Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Seven years later, have we figured out how to stop childhood obesity? No. The morbidly obese category is the fastest growing segment for adults and children. Bariatric surgery for teens is now available, absurd! What are U.S. Health experts doing to remedy this situation? Teaching kids about food groups, the food pyramid and a proper nutrient mix. Advising their parents that good eating habits begin in the home. Those homes where the adults are fat, serially dieted and failed.
Maybe it’s time to admit that we really don’t know what to do about childhood obesity. For starters, kids are not short adults! Growing vertically used to limit growing horizontally, this is no longer the case. Many mothers start out overweight and keep gaining throughout their pregnancy. Their infants start life with extra fat cells, which don’t decrease. The size of a fat cell can shrink or swell, but the actual number of fat cells is constant. We don’t know how to factor in the hormones and antibiotics and preservatives in the foods that may not affect adults, but may hurt growing bodies.
Kids aren’t going to respond to boring lectures on nutrition. Their idols, charismatic performers and sports stars, have their attention. Look to Beyonce; she has a $50 million deal with Pepsi to pitch their soda. And when she is not hawking Pepsi she is cooing about being a vegan as are many of her fellow celebs. Do they know they are going to lose their American fans to Diabetes? Do they care?