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Is
Inactivity Causing Diabetes Among Kids?
Suspecting that inactivity is to blame for the skyrocketing
rate of diabetes among children, a Georgia researcher plans
to monitor and test third graders to find out for sure.
"Type 2 diabetes used to be called adult-onset diabetes
because kids didn't get it," says Dr. Catherine Davis,
an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Medical College
of Georgia. "Now, kids are getting it in record numbers."
In fact, 10 times more kids have diabetes today than in
1990, she says.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body can't regulate blood
glucose levels. Complications, which usually occur 20 years
after diagnosis, affect many organs and can lead to heart
attacks, stroke, kidney failure, pregnancy complications,
blindness and poor blood circulation, which can require
limb amputation.
In August, Davis will begin charting and testing 240 overweight
third graders. For four months, one group will do 40 minutes
of aerobic exercise daily, a second group will do 20 minutes
of aerobic exercise, and a third group will not take part
in the exercise. She plans to continue with different groups
of children for three years, measuring the children's body
composition and glucose tolerance before and after the exercise
program.
Although high-fat diets probably contribute to the problem
of overweight and diabetic kids, Davis says, a sedentary
lifestyle may have more to do with it. People ate high-fat
diets 100 years ago, she notes, but they had active lifestyles.
Kids today sit in front of televisions and computers, rarely
walk anywhere, and have fewer physical education classes
at schools because of funding cutbacks.
Article Source: HealthDay
Article Author: N/A
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