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Friday, June 27, 2008
Is Southern food killing us?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nearly 8 percent of Americans have diabetes, a percentage that holds true in metro Atlanta, too.
That works out to 24 million people nationally, an increase of three million in just the last two years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 57 million Americans may have prediabetes, elevated blood glucose levels that aren’t high enough yet to net a diabetes diagnosis, but signal the insulin resistance that’s a hallmark of the disease.
When I looked at a U.S. map of diabetes cases on the CDC web site, I saw what I expected: Highest rates in the Southeast, which typically has the country’s highest rates of obesity too. Metro Atlantans are actually less likely to suffer from diabetes than those living elsewhere in the state. In some parts of east and southwest Georgia, between 11.2 and 15 percent of adults suffer from diabetes, a disease that can cause heart disease, blindness, kidney problems, limb amputation, and many other complications. Staying fit and losing weight can help prevent or delay Type II diabetes. You can learn more about preventing diabetes from the CDC.
Yet, judging by the CDC statistics, many Southerners aren’t adopting healthy lifestyles. We love our biscuits and fried chicken, sweet tea and layer cakes. We’re still seasoning greens with pork fat. And we’re getting less exercise than folks in other regions, too, according to national health surveys.
If you have a family history of diabetes, have you made changes in your diet? Are there favorite Southern foods you’ve given up to eat more healthfully?
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