The typical American diet
and lifestyle have failed U.S. citizens yet again. The Centers for Disease Control has announced alarming
new statistics indicating a sharp rise in Americans suffering from diabetes. Nearly 24 million Americans now have diabetes,
says the CDC, including six million who do not realize they have the disease. In addition, at least 57 million Americans are
pre-diabetic. The new statistic indicates an increase of about three million cases over the last two years.
Clinical nutritionist Thomas Von Ohlen, MS, NC, tells demo dirt that
unless people make a conscious effort to fight the contributing factors of this disease, the situation will only worsen. “One
in three U.S. children born in 2000 will
become diabetic unless many more people start eating less and exercising more,” he writes. “The 33 percent
lifetime risk is about triple the American Diabetes Association's current estimate.”
The consequences of developing diabetes “are frightening,” Von Ohlen states. “Diabetes leads
to a host of problems, including blindness, kidney failure, amputation and heart disease, and diabetics are getting younger
and younger.”
If the number of diabetics continues to grow, Von Ohlen maintains, the cost of health care will become astronomical.
“At the rate we are going now, without serious changes, our current health care system will not be affordable,”
he contends.
“Diabetes, a disease caused largely by obesity and lack of exercise, has been an increasing worry for decades,”
Von Ohlen says. “From the mid-1960s to the mid-'90s, the number of cases tripled. The number of diagnosed cases hit
11 million in 2000, and is expected to rise an additional 165 percent by 2050, to 29 million, an earlier CDC study found.”
Von Ohlen notes that the term “type 2 diabetes” used to be known as “adult-onset diabetes,”
but with stricken patients getting younger and younger, what used to plague the middle-aged, is not affecting children.
Well over a third of little girls under the age of four, and about a third of boys of the same age are predicted
to develop the disease. “Overall, 39 percent of the girls who now are healthy 2 1/2- to 3-year-olds and 33 percent of
the boys are likely to develop diabetes,” the nutritionist says.
The problem is spreading. “Globally, the World Health Organization has estimated that by 2025, the number
of people with diabetes worldwide will more than double, from 140 million to 300 million. They estimated that by 2025, there
would be close to 60 million people with diabetes in India
alone,” Von Ohlen adds.
Americans don’t have to accept this as an inevitable epidemic, Von Ohlen says. The astronomical number of
diabetics is a situation that “doesn't have to happen! Type 2 diabetes can be prevented by losing weight, exercising
and following a sensible diet which includes little to no refined carbohydrates and saturated fats, lean proteins, fruits
and vegetables and whole grains.”
This is easier than many think, he maintains. “A study done in 2002 found that walking 30 minutes a day
most days of the week and losing a little weight helped the people most likely to become diabetic cut their risk by 58 percent.”
Interested in making some changes? Go to www.sodafreesummer.org for fun tips on quenching your summer thirst in a healthy way.
