How to Manage Diabetes Will Stem the Tide of Increasing Diabetes Rates, How Did the Plan Go

How to manage diabetes would be the issue to combat the rise of diabetes. Charles E. Schumer said that the rising problem from disastrous diseases linked to high blood pressure and obesity must be dealt with in all fronts: schools, at work and even on the streets. This he said after learning of the 52% diabetes increase in the Southern Tier in the last ten years.

Visiting the health care providers and administrators at the Lourdes Hospital, Schumer announced his plan to combat the disease which comprises such steps as motivating the employers to help on how to manage diabetes among the employees, regulating contents in schools' vending machines and sponsoring programs to promote the increase of physical activity.

At the Broome County, over 8% have diabetes and 60% and more are either overweight or obese which makes them a high risk to develop diabetes. The problem is of huge proportion physically, emotionally and economically. Dr. Robert Taylor said that the health care cost for those with diabetes are five more than those who do not have the disease.

Schumer said the approach to fight this disease must be more aggressive or the health care costs will be astronomical. The senator is a member of the Finance Committee at the senate so perhaps the plan will become a reality. The plan will include the following:

• Establishing a pilot program to motivate employers to give incentives or some sort of a bribe for employees to improve their health through diet, exercise and medication


• Legislation to endorse refund of costs incurred by early screening, controlling and preventing diabetes instead on the emphasis now of treating the condition
  


• Establishing a campaign to encourage awareness in children on the value of healthy lifestyles


• Setting up a prerequisite for the nutritional standards of food and drinks in schools

Needless to say, the plan was well received. What I could not find was how it went. The director of the Community Health Services said we'd be in trouble if the trend is not reversed. Diabetic children are more prone to have cognitive problems and inferior reading and math scores. And employers should be involved as diabetic employees contribute to their bottom line as they learn how to manage diabetes.

Link Between Children's Nutrition and Adult Diseases

University of Granada's Department of Pediatrics' researchers investigated the link between what the children eat and the development of diabetes, cardiovascular problems, allergies, obesity, weak bones and behavioral and neuromotor functioning. The study included the group effort of 16 countries with their 38 universities and companies.

The mission of this study is to aid in the formation of policies, guidelines and recommendations on the improvement of the children's nutrition.. The project called EARNEST (The Early Nutrition Programming Project) also aims to help in plans to prevent the negative influence of nutrition on metabolism.

The professor who heads this project in Granada, Cristina Campoy, said that "early nutrition programming" is a recent addition to the science and health field. Nutrition has been shown in researches to have a long term effect in children's health and the development of diseases.

The effect of nutrition during three stages (prenatal, postnatal, infancy) on the health and growth along with how the approaches on the prevention of the effects on the metabolism were covered. It also investigated the nutritional interventions and clinical tests, the economic and social studies linked to nutrition and their influence in the onset of diseases later.

Another consideration this project hoped to find was whether breastfeeding can prevent risk of obesity since it is known that the growth kinetics of children who are breastfed differ from those who are commercially fed. This has been connected to eating habits. I tried to look for the result of the study but could not find it but because of its importance, here are tips from the American Heart Association:

• The number of calories should be enough to support the development and maintenance of ideal weight.
  


• Foods consumed should be low in trans fat, saturated fat, salt, cholesterol and additional sugar.
  


• The total fat consumed should only be between 30% and 35% of calories for 2 and 3 year olds, 26% and 35% of calories for 4 to 18 year olds. Most of these fats should come from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids like nuts, fish, and vegetable oils.
  


• Opt for a selection of foods to obtain adequate protein, carbohydrates and other nutrients.
  


• Consume only enough calories to keep healthy weight depending on height and build and be active for a minimum of 60 minutes a day.
  


• Eat breads that are whole grain and with high fiber.
  


• Eat an assortment of fruits and vegetables every day with each meal having at least one vegetable or one fruit. Lessen the amount of juice intake.
  


• Fish should be served regularly and not the commercially fried kind.
  


• Dairy foods consumed should be of low-fat and fat-free variety.
  


• Never overfeed. Estimated number of calories for one year old is 900, for 14 to 18 year old girls, it's 1800 and for 14 to 18 year old boys, it's 2200.
  

There you have the eating pattern that is recommended by the American Health Association. It should be enough to maintain growth and development of the child with the nutrients including calcium and iron necessary for good health. This should protect one from diseases.

Happier After Type 1 Diabetes Diagnosis

One issue of Diabetes Forecast, the leading magazine for diabetes for sixty years, features Elizabeth Perkins. She is an actress diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 44 years old. She tells the American Diabetes Association in an interview that she's been happier since her diagnosis.

In the magazine, she discusses her treatment routine, and how her condition has influenced her career in Hollywood. She is an actress who has received many nominations for the Series Weeds. It was while the first season was being filmed in 2005 when she was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.

At first she was totally beleaguered. She was testing her blood sugar and injecting herself in her trailer while shooting that first episode of Weeds. She was so afraid and alone then and didn't tell anybody she had diabetes. It took her 18 months to get over being overwhelmed. Now she can proudly admit she's diabetic and in control of her condition.

Elizabeth Perkins already knew about eating health and exercising regularly because she had to look fit at the filming. But she made herself learn more. She learned to follow what her body needs, to rest when her body tells her to where before she didn't do that.

To cope and adjust to her condition, she learned to monitor her blood sugar level, how to draw syringes and injecting herself without anyone around her knowing what she was doing. She just admitted to herself that no one else will be able to save her except herself.

The experience of learning to cope with diabetes has actually helped her develop the Weeds character. She said she is now a happier person than before the diagnosis. She has a better understanding of the world around her.