Health Link

Dueling Diabetes

Story by Sue Robbins

There’s no question, diabetes is the stuff of headlines: ‘Diabetes driving health-care costs’, says the Edmonton Journal. ‘Funding awarded to diabetic youths’, headlined The Globe and Mail. Men’s Health magazine is paying attention with, ‘Who will get diabetes first?’ comparing the lifestyles of three men at risk for diabetes. And even Oprah recently had a show highlighting diabetes.

Epicdemic Proportions

IT SEEMS EVERYONE KNOWS SOMEONE WITH DIABETES. Two million Canadians and 105,000 Albertans live with it; that’s more than 3 out of every hundred people. And, each month, an additional 1,000 people are diagnosed with diabetes in Alberta.

The alarm bells have been sounded: diabetes is at an epidemic rate. The U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reports that ‘one in three U.S. children born in the year 2000 will become diabetic unless many more people start eating less and exercising more’.

In Alberta, Alberta Health and Wellness projects that diabetes rates will likely double over the next 15 years. Parents should pay attention.How children eat and exercise today can directly impact their future health.As consumers,what do we need to know? First, the scoop on the sugar.

Q: What is Diabetes?

A: (Isaac, Age 10): It's when you have too much sugar in your body.

Isaac is partially correct. The Calgary Regional Health Authority provides a simple definition of diabetes: Diabetes is a condition in which your body cannot use sugar properly. This may be because your pancreas does not make enough insulin or your body does not use the insulin that is produced in the right way. Either way, the result is that too much sugar stays in the blood.

Tony Steele has lived with diabetes for the past four years.He has to check his blood sugar twice a day, plan physical activities that include aerobic exercise and avoid sugar and carbohydrates such as potatoes.Unlike others with diabetes, Tony does not have to inject himself with insulin, but he does have to take medication three times a day.

Those with diabetes work hard to remain healthy in spite of the disease. Tony says, “Diabetes has made me diet conscious, and last year I took off 40 pounds; so all in all I am in good shape. I get good numbers at my quarterly blood tests, and I’m symptom free.”

Tony’s management of diabetes has kept the serious complications at bay. People with diabetes can become blind and acquire kidney disease, nerve damage and cardiovascular disease. Diabetes is shockingly deadly: it is the leading cause of death by a disease in Canada.

TYPE 2 Diabetes Can Be Prevented

There are two major types of diabetes—Type 1 and Type 2. Approximately 10% of people with diabetes have Type 1; the other 90% have Type 2. The fact is, Type 2 diabetes can be prevented.While there are many factors that contribute to diabetes, taking preventative measures can entirely prevent, delay, or even reverse Type 2 diabetes.

Types 1 and 2 - What's the Difference

Type 1 About 10% of people with diabetes have Type 1 diabetes.
It cannot be prevented.
It develops when the pancreas produces little or no insulin.
It usually occurs in young adults (under 40) .
It can be known as ‘juvenile diabetes’ or ‘insulin-dependant diabetes’.

Type 2

About 90% of people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes.
It CAN be prevented.
It occurs when the body does not use insulin secreted by the pancreas properly.
It used to only occur in adults over 45; now is occurring in young adults.
It may or may not be managed by the use of insulin.

Parents can help combat both poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles. Here’s how.

Just Say NO to Super Sizing

Fries and gravy. Pizza and burgers. Food consumed by teenagers can be staggeringly laden in fat and sugar. Their food is fast and convenient, to fill their infamous hollow legs.

Teen bodies are growing rapidly, and they require a bounty of nutritional food and calories to keep them going. But teens are also notorious for their questionable eating habits. (Not to say all teens fall into this category. Of course, there are teenagers who are mindful of healthy eating.) There are many health implications for growing bodies. The results of high-fat diets are manifested in rising obesity rates and skyrocketing incidences of diabetes.

Parents can make a difference to their kids’ eating habits, starting with encouraging the entire family to sit down together for meals, and providing healthy food alternatives in the kitchen.

Make Sneaky Substitutions

As kids forage through the pantry and fridge for food, consider these easy substitutions for healthy alternatives:

1% milk instead of 2% milk results in very little taste difference.
Low-fat pretzels instead of potato chips.
Fat-reduced mayonnaise vs. regular mayonnaise can cut fat content in half.
Whole wheat bread instead of white bread dramatically increases fibre content.
Chocolate milk is better than no milk! It has the same nutrients as white milk and is surprisingly low in sugar and caffeine.
Turkey breast, roast beef or black forest ham instead of highly processed and sodiumfilled bologna, salami, pepperoni and sausage for sandwich meats.

Create a Healthy Environment

Healthy eating is a philosophy that starts in the kitchen and around the dinner table. Of course, modeling healthy eating and following Canada’s Food Guide is our best bet to influence our kids.

Here are some ideas to entice teens to eat well:

Grocery shop on the outer edges of the grocery store. That’s where you’ll find produce, dairy and fresh meats.
Look for yogurt and pudding in convenient, single-serving packages.
Buy baked snacks, instead of deep-fried brands.
Pick up something new, like roasted pumpkin seeds or exotic nuts.
Organize your kitchen so the healthiest choices are the easiest to grab. Keep the foods with fewer nutrients out of reach.
Keep a bowl of fresh fruit on the counter.
Always keep milk and juice on hand.
Put raw vegetables on the table as you are preparing meals. Hungry kids will nibble on these snacks while they are waiting for dinner.
Install a water cooler or a water filter system, or simply keep a jug of water in the fridge to provide a cold alternative to pop.

Finesse Your Dashboard Dinning

These days, it is not always practical to plan a family dinner around the dining room table. Parents and their children are often rushing to after-school activities near dinnertime, and food choices are limited to very quick meals eaten either in the mini-van, or while dashing out the door.Here are some healthy ideas for ‘dashboard dining’:

Pick up a cooked chicken from the deli section at the grocery store. Pair that with whole wheat buns and a bagged salad, and you have an instant dinner.
Car sandwiches—whip up some quick sandwiches for the car as an alternative to fast food.
If you must pick up fast food, chose the healthier alternatives. Sandwiches at the donut shop are lower in fat than burgers, as are subs.
Most fast-food places now offer ‘lighter’ options on their menu. For instance, a Big Mac is 574 calories and 32 grams of fat, while a Chicken Fajita is 220 calories and 5.9 grams of fat.

Use your Hand to Gauge Portions

Bigger is not always better when it comes to portions of food.Upping the size on a tub of popcorn can add 44% more calories and fat. It is difficult to keep portions in perspective when offered giant-sized chocolate bars, huge bags of chips and extra-large pop. But along with what you eat, how much you eat is key to healthy eating. To keep portions reasonable, follow the Canada Food Guide. Use your hand to calculate how much is the right amount:

A fist is the same as a cup.
The palm of your hand is three ounces, or one serving of meat.
The tip of your thumb is one teaspoon of peanut butter, mayonnaise or margarine.
A thumb is an ounce of cheese.

And, don’t forget to listen to your stomach! When you are full, stop eating. Despite what our mothers told us, there is no shame in leaving food on your plate.

Even if you are in a tremendous hurry, take a few minutes to savour and enjoy your food! The feeling of hunger will go away if our brains have time to register the food. (It usually takes 20 minutes for our brain to acknowledge there’s food in our system.)

Get Off The Couch!

What does ‘get more active’ really mean? Being active, particularly for our youth, needs to fit into their personalities and lifestyles.Health Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology have recommended that youth increase their physical activity by 30 minutes per day—experts have also suggested that youth decrease their television and computer time by 30 minutes a day. Easier said than done?

Sixty minutes of light activity (light walking, gardening), 30-60 minutes of moderate activity (biking, brisk walking, raking leaves), or 20-30 minutes of vigorous exercise (jogging, basketball, fast swimming) per day is deemed a healthy amount of activity by Health Canada.Youth are encouraged to gradually increase their activity until they reach 90 minutes of physical activity per day. Their Family Guide to Physical Activity for Youth offers simple suggestions for upping the dose of activity for your family.

Young people first need to develop an awareness about how active or inactive they are. After that, setting realistic goals, using praise, re-evaluating goals and recognizing change are all steps in inserting that 30 minutes a day needed to help reduce the risk for diabetes. Health Canada’s Family Guide offers suggestions for hauling our kids off the couch:

Encourage chores that emphasize physical activity: raking leaves, mowing the lawn, shoveling the walk, bringing in groceries.
Walk the dog! Or if you don’t have a dog, borrow one.
Drive and walk. Park a few blocks away from your destination and walk.
Take the stairs, not the elevator.
Join team sports. Not just for the exercise, but for the fun and to meet new friends.
Design family outings around activities: go for a hike, go skiing, bowling or bike riding.
Start a family tradition of going for a walk after dinner—for the exercise, and the opportunity to talk.
Coaching a kids’ sports team is a surefire way to get them involved and active. Remember, it takes time to develop any new lifestyle change. Be patient when introducing any of these new ideas.

Find Out More

To check if you’re at risk, recognize th e symptoms, get sugar-smart recipes and learn a whole bunch more about dueling diabetes, see growingalberta.com (Food for Thought). There, you’ll also find a good directory of diabetes-related Web sites.

What does ‘get more active’ really mean? Being active, particularly for our youth, needs to fit into their personalities and lifestyles. Health Canada and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology have recommended that youth increase their physical activity by 30 minutes per day—experts have also suggested that youth decrease their television and computer time by 30 minutes a day. Easier said than done?

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