Diet is a quite important matter for diabetic people. Everything they
eat may have a consequence positive or not in their disease evolution.
According to researchers from Keck School of Medicine of the University
of Southern California, overweight Latino children show signs of beta
cell decline, a precursor of type 2 diabetes because they are consuming
lots of sugar especially in sugary drinks.
Nowadays, statistics show that nearly one out of four Latino children
in the United States is overweight, and the problem appears to be worse
over the future. Obesity rates are increasing along with the incidence
of pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes within overweight teens. Under a
researchers' report published by the American Journal of Clinical
Nutrition, high sugar consumption during childhood may play an
important role in the development of diabetes in this population.
According to experts in preventive medicine, overweight and poor diet
among these children could have disastrous consequences for minority
health and the health-care costs for future generations, if they are
left untreated.
The research called Study of Latinos at Risk (SOLAR) Diabetes Project
is conducted by the research team from the Keck School. This project
examined 63 overweight Latino children in Los Angeles from 9 to 13
years old and do not have diabetes.
Beta cells in the pancreas, experts explain, create the hormone insulin
in response to sugar from food. Energy is something necessary to cells
in the body's tissues, so they need sugar, or glucose, and insulin
helps cells grab and take up glucose in the blood.
