DIABETES: ARE YOU AT RISK?
I congratulate you for the clarity of your report on diabetes [Dec. 8]. For the past 19 years, as a pediatric endocrinologist dealing with children with diabetes, I have watched with amazement the increase in the number of young people with Type 2 diabetes (formerly called adult-onset diabetes), especially in the past 10 to 15 years. This escalation matches the tremendous rise in juvenile obesity. Many cases of Type 2 diabetes could be prevented by schools' reinforcing healthy eating habits and providing lunches (and breakfasts) that are not equivalent to fast food. In addition, foods rich in concentrated sweets or fats should bear warning labels. And finally, we should stop the incessant TV advertising of the most damaging foods during hours of children's programming. MICHELE ZERAH, M.D. Pensacola, Fla.
Hillary Carroll, the girl on your cover, was 10 years old and weighed 220 lbs. before her Type 2 diabetes was diagnosed? Gee, what was her parents' first clue that she had some kind of problem? Long-term studies of diabetes are a nice idea, but let's not overlook the obvious. Most people today, especially children, eat too much and exercise too little. JOHN M. SAXTON JR. Clarksburg, N.J.
Could a contributing factor to childhood obesity and diabetes be the amount of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup consumed? I recently saw a photo of a high school lunch table littered with soda and sports-drink bottles. When I was in school (in the 1970s), the only drink available at lunch was milk. Why don't schools get rid of all the soda, candy and sports-drink vending machines? GREGORY HOYT Reading, Mass.
People predisposed to diabetes would be much better off eating more natural, less-processed foods and should take drugs only as a last resort. I'm referring not just to fast foods but also to the majority of highly processed food staples found on grocery-store shelves. In today's mass-marketed brands there is a great deal of hidden sugar--not to mention unnecessary preservatives and saturated fat--that most people are blind to. Consumers are taken in by glossy packaging and big ad campaigns and buy foods without reading the ingredients. They will be delighted by how good natural foods can taste. KRIS SPENCER Royal Oak, Mich.
If we treated our cars the way we do our bodies, millions of people would be stranded every day. We Americans do little about our health until there is a problem. Then we are suddenly amazed by what has happened to us. I'm surprised that more people do not seek the advice of a nutrition counselor. Is it because that is not covered by health insurance? My car insurance doesn't pay for oil changes, but I still have them done. DEANNE DEAVILLE Sunnyvale, Calif.
Of course there's an epidemic of diabetes. We are getting fat. Why? Because we've got it too easy. We don't have to hunt or gather our food anymore. People are not physically active enough. Even when walking around the mall, they have sodas and fast food in their hands. It's sad to see this terrible and preventable disease run rampant among our youth. There are people around the world starving to death, and here we are eating ourselves to death. GLENYS McNALLY Freeport, N.Y.
SURPRISE! IT'S THE PRESIDENT