Diabetes is a lifelong battle against the ups and downs of the body's metabolism of sugar. And while it can be managed with medication and diet, the new trend of adolescent and younger aged children cases is alarming.
With the surge in obesity and overweight children, it should come as no surprise that diabetes is also growing in proportion. Children are less active than they have been in the past, and this is leading to health problems.
Inactivity leads to Obesity
When the body is overweight, it can not handle the everyday stresses as well as it could. And when the body is smaller to begin with (as it is in children), these effects are magnified.
With more time spent on the computer and less time in the outdoors, children are sitting and eating and gaining weight. Excess weight is beginning to cause the body to be unable to handle a high sugar and fat intake and thus leading to diabetes. Of course, this is the simplified version of the process, but diabetes is the results nonetheless in many children.
You are what you eat
In today's fast paced world, more and more families rely on easy to cook, processed foods that have a high fat and sugar content. In the past, our diets contained wholesome and nutritious foods like fresh fruits and vegetables.
Our bodies can normally adapt to stress within limits but when there is a constant bombardment of unhealthy foods, the liver and pancreas cannot keep pace and end up malfunctioning or even getting damaged.
Children learn from their environment
And while it's easy to blame the child for the health problems and poor food choices, there is a lot to be said for the family that surrounds them. If the children are predisposed to an environment that doesn't support healthy living, then there is a greater tendency for diabetes and other health problems.
It needs to be a team effort for the entire family to commit to in order to avoid diabetes and other problems associated with poor health habits.
Healthy CAN be exciting! Working out is great when everyone in the family does it together. And if you get every single person at home working on finding new ways to prepare nutritious, healthy and mouth-watering meals, you will be surprised at how enthused they get, they will want to contribute to their health!
Martin Grandley operates the website
Diabetes Firm, inc. which is a site dedicated to diabetes issues and contains all the very latest news and views diabetes related.
For more details please visit http://www.diabetesfirm.com