How To Treat The Childhood Type 2 Diabetes Epidemic

Most people you ask associate the Type 2 diabetes disease to older adults, but not anymore. Investigators from the University of Washington in Seattle now report that very young adults and even children are getting the disease in record numbers.

Their study shows that Type 2 diabetes may be affecting as many as 39,000 adolescents between ages 12 and 19. Even more alarming is that another 2.5 million kids are known to be suffering from impaired fasting blood sugar levels, considered a prelude to contracting the disease.

This study is based on blood sugar testing performed in about 1,500 teens without a diagnosis of diabetes. About 11 percent were found to have high fasting blood sugar levels. The researchers used that figure to estimate the incidence of diabetes and impaired fasting blood sugar levels in the general population of teens.

So the big question is why so many children are and young adults getting Type 2 diabetes what was once previously considered an adult disease? Arlan L. Rosenbloom, M.D., from the Children's Medical Services Center in Gainesville, Fla., attributes the increased risk to the growing obesity epidemic among young people and calls for greater public health efforts to combat the situation.

He goes on to say that "It is to be hoped that the recognition of the public health time bomb reflected in the report will lead to a pervasive societal effort to prevent obesity, a daunting task of such magnitude that enormous community and governmental commitments will be required".

What you need to realize is that as parents of children who are in the early stages of acquiring Type 2 diabetes can set examples for their children by cutting down on all the fast foods and eating foods with little of no nutrition for the body. You are eating yourself to death!

As a parent you need to lead the way and lose weight using low fat foods, exercise and practice a healthier lifestyle, then teach your children to do the same. In today's hectic high pressure world everyone is going to slip and eat some fast food, but you shouldn't eat fast foods all the time.

Remember that movie filmed awhile back called "Super Size Me"? This movie shows why are Americans so fat? Super Size Me is a tongue in-cheek look at the legal, financial and physical costs of America's hunger for fast food.

Ominously, 37% of American children and adolescents are carrying too much fat and 2 out of every three adults are overweight or obese which leads to Type 2 diabetes. Is it our fault for lacking self-control, or are the fast-food corporations to blame? I think both are to blame. If we only knew what lies down the road after we eat all that fast food. It will slowly and surely lead to a lifetime of regret and treatment for the incurable disease called Type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms and Causes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes, the problem being that the body does not produce enough insulin, or other cells ignore the insulin you produce. Sugar is essential for the body to survive because it gives us energy. Insulin's job is to take sugar that your body needs to function and deliver it to your bodies cells. If your body's cells do not get the sugar they need to survive, sugar builds up and causes high blood glucose levels, which hurts your eyes, nerves, kidneys and/or heart. Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in older people, and is more commonly found in overweight and obese individuals. However, type 2 diabetes does occur in some thin people, especially at an older age.

The causes of type 2 diabetes vary greatly. The causes can include insulin abnormalities, increased glucose production, increased fat breakdown, defective hormones, lifestyles issues (such as obesity and inactivity), and it can be hereditary in some cases.

While some people experience no symptoms at all, some of the symptoms for type 2 diabetes include increased thirst, increased urination, increased appetite, fatigue, blurred vision, frequent or slow healing infections, and in males erectile dysfunction.

Type 2 diabetes is a very preventable disease, and you can lower your chances of getting this disease if you keep an active lifestyle, eating a healthy diet which is low in fat and processed foods, while high in raw vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Keeping your weight at a healthy level also significantly lowers your risk.

Experts now say that everyone over 45 should be tested for diabetes. Younger individuals should be tested if they have any of the following risk factors: being overweight, high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol levels, high triglyceride levels, having a genetic history of diabetes, delivering a baby that weighs over 9 pounds, or having a close relative with diabetes. If you feel that you might be at risk for type 2 diabetes, visit your health care practitioner as soon as you possibly can. While being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes can be very frightening, and some people would like to avoid thinking about it, the sooner you are diagnosed, the better your chances of survival are. Diabetes kills people everyday, but if you are receiving proper care and taking care of yourself, you can live a long and healthy life.