Thursday, February 7, 2013
Teenage Diabetes More Than Doubles
The article I read is called Teenage Diabetes More Than Doubles. The article is about how the rate of teenage diabetes has doubled, as other health risks have also remained dangerously high. Researchers with the American Diabetes Association, and other groups, said the number of teens with diabetes or pre-diabetes as risen from nine percent to twenty-three percent over the past decade. Other cardiovascular-related risk factors such as high blood pressure and elevated rates of bad cholesterol, though stable during the same period, were still found to be disturbingly high. Our nation is continuing to struggle with related issues, such as, obesity rates and rising healthcare costs. The percentage of teens that were overweight didn't change much between 1999 through the end of 2008. It remained around the current range of about thirty-four percent. But the occurrence of diabetes and pre-diabetes rose dramatically, from nine percent of the surveyed population in 1999-2000 to twenty-three percent in 2007-2008, a little less than ten years later. Pre-hypertension (high blood pressure) and high amounts of bad cholesterol was the most common combination of risk factors among overweight and obese teens. Both can increase risk of heart disease earlier in life than normal. Mitigating the risks isn't as difficult as it might seem, researchers have said for years, noting that even moderate lifestyle changes can dramatically decrease risk factors. Scores of earlier studies have shown that simply eating less fat as well as smaller portions of foods containing fewer calories, combined with twenty to thirty minutes of exercise daily, people can reduce their risk of developing diabetes by almost sixty percent. I know a few people that have diabetes, and I've even been tested for diabetes. My dad has boarder-lined diabetes so I had to get checked for them. I didn't have diabetes, but I exercise almost everyday and I eat somewhat healthy foods. Do you know anybody with diabetes? How do you think you could prevent yourself from getting diabetes?
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I think this is a very serious issue in the our world today because kids are eating more food that isn't good for you because it is almost cheaper than food that is good for you. Like at some places you can get a hamburger that isn't good for you cheaper than a salad which is healthier. Some of my family members have diabetes, but I have never been tested for diabetes. I think the best way to prevent yourself from getting diabetes is to eat healthier and to get regular exercise like you said. I believe this issue will probably keeping getting bigger.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why teenagers are getting diabetes is because of what we are eating. Most of the things that us teenagers eat are all processed things because we never have time to make anything that would be good for us, and some families don't have enough money to pay for healthy things. They would rather pay for processed things because they are way cheaper. I do know someone that has diabetes. We have some kids with diabetes that are in our school. This is a preventable thing if we all change our eating habits and start eating things that are healthy for us.
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