Diabesity A Doctor and Her Patients on the Front Lines of the Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic

Experts now predict that more than one-third of American children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Written by one of the world's leading authorities on the link between obesity and diabetes, this passionate, frighteningbut ultimately hopefulbook points the way to a solution. To enter Dr. Francine Kaufman's clinic is to see the future of America: a 220-pound twelve-year-old boy...a 267-pound thirteen-year-old girl...their concerned but equally overweight parents...the human faces and human suffering behind the epidemic of type 2 diabetes that threatens to overwhelm our health care system. Once a disease of the elderly, type 2 diabetes now strikes adults in their primeand, increasingly, children. It has nearly doubled in the last decade. The cause? Our soaring rates of obesity. Diabesity takes us to the front lines of the fight against this preventable but deadly disease. Through vivid patient stories, it explains how excess weight destroys the body's ability to process sugar properlywith life-threatening consequences. It shows what happens when the genes that evolved to protect us from famine collide with a sedentary lifestyle that has put bacon cheeseburgers on every corner. And it demonstrates why our usual blame-the-victim response is futile in face of the complex, worldwide forces behind this epidemic. Detailing the tools for change at every levelfrom families to school systems to governmentand reporting on innovative programs that are already making a difference, Diabesity offers a compelling action plan for winning this battle. From the Hardcover edition.

Francine R. Kaufman, M.D. is an internationally-known authority on diabetes and obesity. The immediate past-president of the American Diabetes Association (2002-2003 term), she is Head, Center for Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, and Professor of Pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California. The author of more than 150 medical articles, she has developed many important clinical innovations and is also a tireless public advocate. She has developed innovative programs for overweight and diabetic children and their families, served for more than twenty years as medical director of a summer camp for diabetic children, and was instrumental in banning the sale of soda in the LA Unified School District. Her many honors include the 2003 Woman of Valor Award from the American Diabetes Association. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Neal Kaufman, M.D., M.P.H., and is the mother of two sons, Adam and Jonah.


From the Hardcover edition.