Diabetes in Children and Youth

Diabetes in children and youth
There is no secret that we are in an era of alarming chronic health problems affecting people. More specific is the epidemic we see increasing among children and youth under 20 years of age.

Many studies consistently report the emergency for primary care providers to council parents and youth about healthy eating habits, increasing physical activity, and getting educated about diabetes. As et an article published by Hoffington Post, there are about 24 million people diagnosed with diabetes and 75 million as pre-diabetic. Another alarming statistic is that diabetes type 1 and type 2 is alarmingly increasing on the Hispanic community and little progress on education and prevention has been accomplished. But when it comes to the Hispanic community, how can we tackle this problem? It is important to go back to the beginning, mother's TLC (tender loving care) impacts the Hispanic children way of seeing and appreciating food.

Latin cousine is not just food for Hispanics, it is a way of a life style, it involves customs, traditions, flavors, portions, finishing everything served on the plate as a sign of satisfaction and politeness.

So how can we merge science and cultural practices? How can we better understand Hispanic's diet based on cultural costumes and traditions? These are critical questions and we better come up with some solutions to it. The future of out next health generation depends on that.

Our health practice (healthcare system) needs to change to a proactive approach.

We cannot continue being reactive to problems Health. Preventive and proactive steps need to happen in pediatric care. Children an family should receive ongoing healthy eating education as well learn about potential chronic diseases associated with obesity and diabetes. We need to create and sustain partnerships with parents and other primary care providers to build a culture around healthy living, good eating habits, and active Healthcare participation.