Epidemic of the 21st Century: Overweight, Sick Kids!

Fact: Children who watch TV while eating are twice as likely to eat "junk" food as opposed to fruits and vegetables.
 
Sadly, today's sedentary lifestyle for children is raising their risk of obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis and other disorders. Discover how you can help reverse this alarming trend…

 

Shocking health realities

Today's parents are having their children’s pediatrician tell them that their 11-year-old son has Type 2 diabetes, or that their 16-year-old daughter has osteoporosis. The out-of-control lifestyles created by adults over the past 40 years has led to a 50% increase in the diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes—the kind of obesity-related diabetes once known as "adult onset" because it wasn’t usually diagnosed until age 50 or older.

 

Making wellness a family affair

We can reverse these trends if we start making eating healthy foods and increasing physical activity important to our children. Here are guidelines for dealing with overweight children:

• Have the child examined by a medical doctor to make sure he or she won’t have issues with losing weight.
• Children can begin their day with a Multivites vitamin tablet and a Kid Shake made with nonfat or soy milk.

Stopping the epidemic

Choose to set the example by picking up an apple instead of an ice-cream bar. Stop smoking. Turn off the television or computer—and instead, shoot some hoops with your children or go for a walk. Be sure to take your dog on your walks so that you won't have a fat dog at risk for diabetes and heart disease. (Yes, they develop the same diseases as humans!)

Let's make the 21st century the century of wellness, family values and a better quality of life. Let's start today.

The Research Behind Women's Low-Carb Diets and Type 2 Diabetes

    The lure of rapid weight loss through low-carbohydrate diets has been put to the long-term health effects test. Clinical researchers recently ran a prospective trial to determine weather low-carbohydrate diets used for weight loss increased or decreased the risk for type 2 diabetes in women over time. The researchers used data from the ongoing Nurses' Health Study to examine the association between a low-carbohydrate diet score (based on the percentage of energy found in carbohydrates, fat, and protein) and the risk of type-2 diabetes in more than 85,000 women over a 20-year time frame. It was recognized amongst the researchers that females who ate more carbohydrates had a higher risk of developing type-2 diabetes compared with those who ate fewer carbohydrates during the study period. The conclusion here is that the data suggest diets lower in carbohydrates and higher in fat and protein do not increase the risk of type-2 diabetes in women. The researchers published this conclusion in the February 2008 issue of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The research further concluded that, “In fact, diets rich in vegetable sources of fat and protein may modestly reduce the risk of diabetes.”

   Please keep in mind that not all carbohydrates are created equal. If you decide to reduce your carbohydrate intake to lose weight, make sure you retain the healthy “complex” carbs, such as fruits and veggies. Instead, toss out the “simple” carbs, like those found in processed foods.