Childhood Diabetes Said To Double By the Year 2020

According to a report recently published by the BBC, childhood obesity is expected to double in the next twenty years. To health care professionals, these statistics, while alarming, are not surprising. Several factors have come into play that may be responsible for the rise in diabetes. Most notably, higher caloric diets packed with corn syrup and simple carbohydrates, combined with a growing population of children who no longer exercise and instead spend hours watching television, playing video games, or simply working at their computers.

The human body has evolved over millions of years to eat and move a certain way. Our bodies have evolved to eat highly nutritious foods that are low in calories but high in fiber and nutrients. Our bodies have also evolved to be physically active. Our prehistoric ancestors moved continuously throughout the day, foraging and hunting. The modern child's lifestyle is very different from the lifestyle of our ancestors. By moving away from whole natural foods and physical activity we are seeing a high cost paid in the health of our children.

We cannot ignore also that health has become a statement about education and financial resources. Poorer neighborhoods often have far more liquor stores and fast food restaurants than groceries selling fresh produce. And even when these healthier stores crop up in urban neighborhoods, the cost is often outside the price range of many poorer families. When I see people like first lady Michelle Obama encouraging the development of neighborhood farms, I am encouraged and hope that these efforts will have a nutritional impact on families who often lack the resources for affordable nutritious food.

Exercise has also become a rare commodity in the inner city. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I could not help but notice that the simple act of riding a bicycle or playing outside is, in certain neighborhoods, extremely dangerous. These factors can help us better understand how the health of an individual is the responsibility of the community at large; our city planners, our health educators, the local city councils and police. Perhaps by looking at the health of the individual as a collective effort, we can begin to move towards creating healthy cities that nurture healthy people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8068941.stm