Diabetes and Obesity: An Epidemic

Type 2 diabetes and obesity are running rampant throughout our cities, towns, and rural communities, and there is major lack of resources and prevention plans available to those who live in underserved areas.

Let’s begin by understanding both diseases.

What is Diabetes? There are two types of diabetes, type 1 and type 2.

Type 1 diabetes is often referred to as juvenile diabetes because it often presents in childhood. Type 1 diabetes has no cure and it is unable to be prevented. In this type your body is unable to produce insulin, so you become insulin-dependent. It is a chronic disease in which you must monitor and modulate your blood sugar levels with insulin, and maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle to reduce risks of complications. Around 5-10% of those with diabetes are type 1.

Type 2 diabetes is known as insulin-resistant diabetes. In this type your body’s cells become unable to effectively use the insulin it produces. Type 2 diabetes typically presents later in life; however, nowadays we are seeing rates rise within our school systems. It is often caused by lifestyle choices, but genetics can place you at higher risk for the disease. Obesity is a major risk factor for the disease. An interesting fact is those with pear shape body fat distribution are less likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who are apple shape. Unlike type 1, type 2 is able to be prevented or at least delayed by healthy lifestyle choices such as a healthy diet, exercising, and reducing your weight to healthier levels. Around 90-95% of those with diabetes are type 2.

Do we just accept that 1 in every 10 Americans have diabetes, and 1 in every 5 of those do not even know they have it? More than 60% of rural populations do not have programs in place for the community to learn and prevent type 2 diabetes. What can you and I do? We can start here by talking about it, bringing awareness to the disease, and taking actions to create a healthier you. Below is a 2017 demographic that depicts the disease prevalence in every county based off of the percentage of population that has diabetes.

Chart was retrieved from RHI Hub in conjunction with the CDC.

Chart was retrieved from RHI Hub in conjunction with the CDC.

Above is a demographic depicting obesity prevalence in the United States. There are only 6 counties in the entire country that only have 10-16% of the county’s population being obese. Over 40% of our country’s population is termed obese. That is an extremely high number. Once again while obesity is rampant throughout urban and rural communities, there is an extreme growth in numbers in rural countries as of late. Obesity prevalence in nonmetropolitan communities is more than 5.5% higher than its metropolitan counterparts. These statistics are not talked about enough.

So what is obesity?

WHO terms obesity as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that poses higher health risks to an individual. Obesity is often defined in terms of categorization based on BMI score. A healthy BMI score falls between 18.5 < X < 25. Overweight is considered 25 < x < 30. Obesity is designated to those whose BMI score is 30 or above.

The correlation between obesity and type 2 diabetes is high. This is because those who are obese have a higher amount of fat cells that require more nutrients than the body can produce. These cells trigger a stress response which activates a protein called cytokine. When cytokine proteins are released, insulin receptors are blocked on the cells. Eventually due to lack of entry of insulin, our cells become insulin-resistant. As you can remember type 2 diabetes is often referred to as insulin resistant, because your body is not able to adequately use the insulin it produces to breakdown glucose in your body. Since more glucose is circulating in the blood, your blood glucose levels will become higher.

4 ways to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes:

• If you are overweight or obese, set goals to lose weight.

  • It is hard to see losing 100 lbs as an attainable goal. It is important to set a big goal but focus on smaller goals.

  • For instance, you may want to lose 50 lbs in a year, which would be your big goal. To keep motivation set smaller goals as well. If you lost 1 lb a week you will have met and exceeded your goal by a little over 2 pounds. This makes your goal more attainable.

  • Do not set unrealistic goals for yourself, in which you hinder your health by not giving your body the nutrients it needs.

• Increase your physical activity levels

  • Exercise is related to increased insulin sensitivity, weight loss, and lower blood sugar.

  • It is recommended that each person should incorporate 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic activity at least 3 times a week.

• Eat Healthy fiber-rich foods

  • These foods can be grown in your garden or found in grocery stores. They help to slow down the absorption of sugar and are very filling.

  • Examples: Leafy greens, broccoli, tomatoes, fruits from trees, chickpeas, lintels, and whole-grains.

  • What to avoid: Foods with high sugar and little fiber or nutrients. For example, white bread, white-flour pasta, processed food with high sugar, and high-fructose corn syrup.

• Eat Healthier Fats

  • Unsaturated fats encourage healthier blood cholesterol levels and are linked to improved cardiac and vascular health.

  • Examples: Olive oil, avocados, flaxseeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds, tuna, and salmon.

  • What to avoid: excess amounts of butter, high fat dairy foods (sour cream, whole milk, ice cream), dark meats, fatty cut meats, processed food.

I am excited to break down each, discuss home exercise programs, and how to cook healthier.