Obesity And Juvenile Diabetes
The increasing obesity epidemic among children is believed to be the leading cause in the increase of juvenile diabetes. Of course, not everyone agrees with this statement. However, it is difficult to argue with this because as obesity continues to increase, so does Type 2 diabetes. In fact, both of these percentages are rising at nearly the same rate. Another of the reasons why juvenile diabetes appears to be on the rise is because most of today's children have poor eating habits and nutrition. They either live the fast food lifestyle or they eat a bag a chips while playing video games. Of course, this only helps to increase the obesity rate, as does the sedentary lifestyle that revolves around watching television, playing video games and talking to their friends on the computer.
Concerns About Juvenile Diabetes
One of the main concerns about juvenile diabetes is that it can have negative affects later on in a child's life. This is because these children have been found to have more life threatening complications than those children who have type 1 diabetes. Some of the major problems include heart disease, damage to the nervous system, renal failure, blindness and limb amputations, especially when it comes to their feet and lower legs.
Defending Against Juvenile Diabetes
The first line of defense against juvenile diabetes is actually the most obvious. You need to help your child maintain a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise. Those children who already have juvenile diabetes also need to maintain a healthy body weight through proper diet and exercise so that they can avoid health problems later on in life.
Treating Juvenile Diabetes
The cornerstone of treatment for children with juvenile diabetes is a healthy, well balanced diet that is low in sugar, saturated fats and salt. Other foods that are good for diabetics are those that are high in fiber and low in carbohydrates. It is also important for these children to get regular physical activity or exercise so that they can move glucose out of their blood and into their cells. These things need to be taken seriously regardless as to whether or not your child is at an increased risk of developing juvenile diabetes. By making these easy lifestyle changes that center around a healthy diet and physical activity the onset of type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed for those children who are at a particularly high risk for developing this disease.
