Diabesity

Experts now predict that more than one-third of American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the link between obesity and diabetes, this passionate, frighteningbut ultimately hopefulbook points the way to a solution.

To enter Dr. Francine Kaufman's clinic is to see the future of America: a 220-pound twelve-year-old boya 267-pound thirteen-year-old girltheir concerned but equally overweight parentsthe human faces and human suffering behind the epidemic of type 2 diabetes that threatens to overwhelm our health care system. Once a disease of the elderly, type 2 diabetes now strikes adults in their primeand, increasingly, children. It has nearly doubled in the last decade. The cause? Our soaring rates of obesity.

Diabesity takes us to the front lines of the fight against this preventable but deadly disease. Through vivid patient stories, it explains how excess weight destroys the body's ability to process sugar properlywith life-threatening consequences. It shows what happens when the genes that evolved to protect us from famine collide with a sedentary lifestyle that has put bacon cheeseburgers on every corner. And it demonstrates why our usual blame-the-victim response is futile in face of the complex, worldwide forces behind this epidemic.

Detailing the tools for change at every levelfrom families to school systems to governmentand reporting on innovative programs that are already making a difference, Diabesity offers a compelling action plan for winning this battle.

Dettagli