Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of decades you have probably heard or noticed that we have an obesity problem in our country. You probably have also noticed that the rate of diabetes continues to rise at an astonishingly fast rate as well. Today compared to in 1960 american adults are now two times more likely to be obese and the average american weighs 24 pounds heavier. Even more scary is that today, children are now three times more likely to be obese as compared to in 1980.(1) Diabetes has risen at an even higher rate in 1960 .91% of American suffered from diabetes in 2013 that number has risen to 7.18% of Americans.(2) That is nearly 8 times increase!
It is estimated that 90 to 95% of diabetes cases in the US are type II diabetes cases. Type II diabetes used to be described as adult onset diabetes because for the most part only adults got it. Now because of our unhealthy lifestyles type II diabetes is becoming increasingly common in children. Over 200,000 children under the age of 20 are estimated to have type II diabetes. These statistics are incredibly scary considering that diabetes is closely associated with high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, blindness, neuropathy, and kidney disease.
Now type II diabetes is very closely tied to obesity. Being overweight is one of the two major risk factors for developing type II diabetes. The other major risk factor, also a major risk factor for obesity, is lack of exercise or not being physically active. The good news is that both of these diseases are life style related. The vast majority of people who suffer from type II diabetes as well as obesity when making significant changes to their daily habits can not only improve their conditions but many times can reverse the conditions.