Erika Ostos Pérez Pd.4 9/26/13
Obesity and Diabetes
Obesity is a condition that is associated with having an excess of body fat, defined by genetic and environmental factors that are difficult to control when dieting. Obesity is classified as having a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Obesity increases your risk of developing related conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and sleep apnea, to name a few. Diabetes is a condition where the amount of glucose in your blood is too high because the body cannot use it properly. This is because your pancreas doesn’t produce any insulin, or not enough insulin, to help glucose enter your body’s cells – or the insulin that is produced does not work properly (known as insulin resistance). Obesity and Diabetes are very important topics to learn about because being informed can give you and your family a healthier life. Doctors and researchers have found that obesity and diabetes are connected. Persons who are obese are at high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes (also known as "insulin-resistant" or "adult-onset" diabetes), particularly if a close family member is affected with diabetes. Therefore, it becomes very important to maintain a healthy body weight throughout your life in order to protect yourself from developing a chronic disease like diabetes.
There are many institutions researching and studying obesity that have showed that type 2 diabetes can be delayed or prevented with lifestyle changes or medication. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has been a driving force behind many decades of advances that have improved the health of people in every corner of America. The NIH is profoundly invested in research to reduce the individual and public health burden of obesity. The obesity research and study is very important because if we can prevent and reduce obesity we will also reduce diabetes. The American Diabetes Association seeks to expand the...