In my book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat, I warn that the childhood obesity epidemic was leading to dramatic increases in the number of kids with diabetes and cardiovascular disease and could shorten their life expectancy. Now we’re beginning to see this come true.
The Washington Post reports, “As recently as the mid-1990s, type 2 diabetes was almost exclusively a disease of adults.”
Now, “apparently fueled by the childhood obesity epidemic, cases in people younger than 20 have ramped up from virtually zero to tens of thousands in the United States in little more than a decade.”
In fact, “today, about 3,700 Americans [under] 20 receive a diagnosis annually of what used to be called ‘adult-onset’ diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
This is a disturbing trend, because diabetes “costs the US health-care system $174 billion a year, according to the National Institutes of Health.”
How can you find out if your child is overweight or obese and at risk for diabetes? I recommend an on-line calculator that you can access here. DO NOT depend upon your guess or opinion that your child’s weight is normal (see my blog, “Many overweight mothers, children underestimate their actual weight.”)
What can a family do if one or more children are overweight or obese? Consider getting a copy of my book, SuperSized Kids: How to protect your child from the obesity threat. It chock full of hundreds of simple tips to help you out.
And the really good news is that it’s on sale at my website. The softcover is on sale for $1.99 (retail $12.99), here, and the hardcover on sale for $3.99 (retail $22.99), here. However, supplies are limited.