Diabetes
In 2019, 37.3 million Americans, or 11.3% of the population, had diabetes.
Nearly 1.9 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 244,000 children and adolescents. Of the 37.3 million adults with diabetes, 28.7 million were diagnosed, and 8.5 million were undiagnosed. (ADA).
Diabetes is one of the most common, and most troubling, consequences of childhood obesity and has risen at epidemic rates in this country over the last two decades. Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder and can lead to kidney failure, heart disease, blindness, stroke, and limb amputations, as well as high-risk pregnancies and babies born with birth defects. A Lancet study published in January 2005 drew a direct link between weight gain and prediabetes and fast food menus.
The diabetes epidemic is reversible, but only if we take immediate measures to improve our children's diets and exercise habits. We can save them from a lifetime of discomfort and disease by teaching them healthy lifestyle habits at the very beginning. If your child already has type 2 diabetes and you're interested in learning about supplements to insulin injections and prescription diabetes medications, the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (a division of the National Institutes of Health) has a website on the various natural supplements studied in the treatment of type 2 diabetes: www.nccam.nih.gov/health/diabetes. (Source: Green This! Baby and Child Care by Deirdre Imus)
Resources
Last updated 03-29-2022