Fighting the “Diabesity” Pandemic

From and with permission of © Iowa Avenue

With global rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes now rising at such breakneck pace, that understanding has become ever more crucial. “I think it's become much worse than I ever thought it would”, Zimmet says. “It's like a rolling stone.”

Paul Zimmet is Foundation Director of the International Diabetes Institute, and Professor of Diabetes at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia, and at the Graduate School of Public Health of the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He is also co-Chair of the IDF Task Force on Epidemiology.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 1 billion adults are overweight with 300 million of them are obese.

People have been getting fatter and fatter every year for the past 25 years. And this increase is not limited to adults. The percentage of young people who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980. Among children and teens aged 6-19 years, 16 percent (over 9 million young people) are considered overweight.

He reiterates that, lifestyle, proper nutrition, exercise, and the "mechansim" of our daily routines, has dire consequences for long term diseases--especially diabetes.

To wit:

"Given the current scale of diabetes and obesity worldwide, that attitude could have worrying ramifications. Zimmet has become a public advocate for fundamental changes to how our lives are organised. “These problems are all a consequence of changes that are happening in the world—mechanisation, exercise being engineered out of our lives. We need to re-think totally the way we live. It is a difficult thing to do, but until we do, the problem of diabetes is going to get worse.” Individual responsibility for sensible eating and regular exercise is important, but governments also need to act, he says. He believes that such things as proper urban planning and responsible advertising of foods are important weapons in the fight against diabetes and obesity."

Paul Zimmet: Fighting the “Diabesity” Pandemic

If you read his comments carefully, they are devastatingly real, and really devastating.

As one of the world renowned experts in long term disease, obesity, and diabetes, he is making the case for why Iowa Avenue, Weight1Minute™, are so important, timely, and useful.

We are in the midst of a global obesity pandemic, and it is "preventable"

pre·vent·a·ble, pre·vent·i·ble, adjective
pre·vent·a·bil·ty, noun
pre·vent·ing·ly, adverb
—Synonyms 1. obstruct, forestall, preclude, obviate, thwart. Prevent, hamper, hinder, impede refer to different degrees ofstoppageof action or progress. To prevent is to stop something effectually by forestalling action and rendering it impossible: to prevent the sending of a message. To hamper is to clog or entangle or put an embarrassing restraint upon: to hamper preparations for a trip. To hinder is to keep back by delaying or stopping progress or action: to hinder the progress of an expedition. To impede is to make difficult the movement or progress of anything by interfering with its proper functioning: to impede a discussion by demanding repeated explanations.
—Antonyms 1. help, assist.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

That's what I'm talking about--to impede is to make difficult the movement or progress of anything by interference.

In our cases--we can all avoid or manage our weight, and lead healthy lifestyles, by stopping those things that lead to negative consequences.

It's about a healthy lifestyle!