Life Lessons:
We just don’t go through life.
We grow through life’s experiences.
Some lessons can be very difficult to accept. Being diagnosed with diabetes is one of them.
Your first reactions is shock. How can this be? Followed closely by denial. The test must be wrong? Next comes frustration or anger. How can this be happening to me? Followed by bargaining. If I lose weight it will go away.
Eventually, after failing to keep the required weight off, you become depressed. You realize this is going to be your life; it is not going away. Then you start to seek realistic solutions, usually involving taking medication. Finally your perception changes to acceptance.
So many times, people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes take a long time to move through these normal changes. Many times they develop complications from uncontrolled blood sugars before accepting their diagnoses.
Time isn’t a luxury with childhood diabetes
Unfortunately, with youth-onset type 2 in young people, you don’t have that time. Progression is much quicker. Once weight-challenged children are diagnosed with type 2, it is too late to reverse their beta cell destruction.
Type 2 in children is very different from adult on-set.
- Unlike adults, children’s problems with blood sugar have more to do with fatty liver disease than with insulin resistance.
- Unlike adults, children with type 2 can lose up to 37% of their beta cells in one year.
- Unlike adults, as soon as their blood sugar cannot be controlled with medications, they need insulin.
Because of the worldwide obesity epidemic, it has been predicted that we will experience a public health catastrophe. We need to improve the overall wellness of our children during childhood. Parents cannot wait until their child is diagnosed.
Knowledge is power! To determine your child’s risk for type 2 diabetes, download my checklist. If any of the items on this list pertain to your child or children, you should consider my 30-day kid’s program.
If you want to start protecting your family, my kid’s program is good for the whole family!
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Encouraging children to make healthful choices can reduce the risk of DKA and T2. Without treatment, type 2 diabetes progress faster in young people than in adults. Type 2 diabetes in children nearly always occurs with obesity, which may contribute to these higher risks of many health problems.
Yes, type 2 diabetes is almost always preceded by obesity which can be controlled. Many times the parent’s say it is due to their genetics. I believe when you know your genetics, it should motivate you to control the outcome of your health’s future.
Knowledge is power if you use it. It is useless if you use it as an excuse.
If you know you need to lose 10 pounds, why accept it until you have to lose 50 pounds? Be proactive and do something to control your weight gain.
You will be healthier, feel better and you will become more active.