Home: Resources: Diabetes and Obesity - General

Diabetes and Obesity - General

• Preventing Overweight in Children from Birth to Five Years Old: Overview for Decision Makers
  February 2006
  Download [1.4MB pdf file]
• Starting Earlier: What We Know About Preventing Overweight in Children from Birth to Five Years Old
  February 2006
  Download [430k pdf file]
• More Than Half of Californians in HMOs Are Overweight or Obese
  July 2005
  Download [184k pdf file]
• The New York Times Two-part Series on Funding for Diabetes Research and Prevention
  "Rising Diabetes Threat Meets a Falling Budget"
  The article examines how federal funding for diabetes research has decreased in the fiscal years 2006 and 2007, a trend that has prompted public health experts nationwide to "become increasingly frustrated and alarmed." Some health care experts maintain that, from the "the viewpoint of pure economics," the federal government should spend more on diabetes research because the disease costs the U.S. economy about $132 billion annually.
  Download: Rising Diabetes Threat Meets a Falling Budget [15k pdf file]
  
  "Beyond 'I'm Diabetic,' Little Common Ground"
  The article examines how "it is hard not to notice the outsize fund-raising success" for type 1 diabetes compared with type 2. Although 20 million U.S. residents have type 2 diabetes, and only one million have type 1, funding for the two conditions remains about equal.
  Download: Little Common Ground [21k pdf file]
• Child Obesity Levels Expected to Soar by 2010
  Childhood obesity rates will soar dramatically in most parts of the world by the end of the decade and raise the risk of diabetes in young people. By 2010 the number of overweight and obese youngsters in the European Union nations is expected to hit 26 million. An estimated 20,000 obese youngsters will have type-2 diabetes, a previously adult disease. Changes in diet, a decrease in physical activity and too much time spent in front of computer or television screens have been blamed for the growing number of overweight children worldwide.
  Download: Global Child Obesity Rates Expected to Soar [7k pdf file]
• Bad Blood
  This New York Times series of articles from January 2006 explores the personal, cultural and environmental factors that contribute to the high rates of diabetes in East Harlem, where an invisible web of diabetes stretches throughout the neighborhood, touching nearly every life with its menace.
  Download:
  Bad Blood I [36k pdf file]
  Bad Blood II [33k pdf file]
  Bad Blood III [35k pdf file]
  Bad Blood IV [34k pdf file]
• Kaiser Permanente Supplement on Childhood Obesity
  Kaiser Permanente, in partnership with UCSF and UCLA, has produced a 24-page magazine insert on the topic of childhood obesity. The supplement appeared in the Jan. 15, 2006 California edition of the Sunday New York Times. The supplement includes information about the prevalence, health impacts, and causes of the epidemic in California, as well as the preventive and treatment approaches available from leading health systems, schools, communities, and government. There is an emphasis on short, useful strategies and tools for parents and non-clinical caregivers. To download a free copy of the report, go to:
  www.kp.org/childhoodobesity
• NPR Report: Sugar Drinks a Source of Weight Gain for Teens
  Researchers say a simple way for teens to lose weight is to stop having sugary drinks. Doctors at Children's Hospital in Boston found that teenagers who replaced soda and juices with calorie-free beverages lost about a pound a month over a six-month trial. You can listen to the NPR Morning Edition story at:
  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5246859
• Health...in Brief: Preventing Obesity in California
  This policy brief from The California Endowment explores California's growing obesity crisis, examines some promising new approaches to addressing the problem and recommends policy changes needed to stem the rising tide of this serious, but preventable, epidemic.
  Download: Preventing Obesity [713k pdf file]
• California Report Card: "D" for Childhood Obesity
  The nonpartisan, not-for-profit organization Children Now (www.childrennow.org) gave California "D" grades for childhood obesity and several other health factors.
  Download: California Report Card [645k pdf file]
• The Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Lectures 2004: Perspectives on the Prevention of Childhood Obesity in Children and Youth
  Published in November 2005. The text of these lectures are available at:
  http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=31105
• The O Word: Why the Focus on Obesity is Harmful to Community Health
  Published in the 2005 issue of the California Journal of Health Promotion, this article by Larry Cohen, et al., examines why focusing on the obese and overweight individual alone does not address the broader social and economic issues that influence people's lives.
  Download: The O Word [236k pdf file]
• GAO Correspondence on Childhood Obesity
  The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a correspondence to Congress on Childhood Obesity: Most Experts Identified Physical Activity and the Use of Best Practices as Key to Successful Programs. It includes a 45 page PowerPoint briefing which discusses the GAO's findings based on a survey of experts to identify strategies and elements to include when designing and/or implementing a program to prevent or reduce childhood obesity.
  Download: GAO Report [1.1MB pdf file]
• Chronic Disease Notes & Reports: Issue on Obesity
  This newsletter of the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion focuses on the full spectrum of issues around obesity, including the underlying factors that cause obesity and overweight and promising individual, community and environmental strategies to prevent and control these conditions.
  Download: Chronic Disease Notes & Reports Winter 2005 [3.2MB pdf file]
• The Guide to Community Prevention Services: What Works to Promote Health
  This is a terrific resource that provides systematic reviews of nutrition, physical activity and obesity intervention literature to evaluate how effective population-based programs are in disease prevention. There are links to specific topic areas in nutrition, physical activity and social environment. A new addition to the Community Guide homepage is a link to the Obesity Prevention & Control systematic reviews. The obesity reviews evaluate how effective programs are in changing outcomes such as BMI, in four settings - worksite, school, healthcare delivery system, and community-based programs. The entire text is available to order or you can read chapters on-line.
  www.TheCommunityGuide.org
• We Can! Ways to Enhance Children's Activity & Nutrition
  The National Institutes of Health has launched a national public education program targeting parents and caregivers of children ages 8 to 13 to help families adopt healthier lifestyles. The program offers a parents' handbook in Spanish and English as well as a six-lesson curriculum for parents and tested curricula for children through community-based sites. A new online resource provides parents, caregivers, communities, national partners, and media with up-to-date health information and tips on maintaining a healthy weight for families. For more information, visit:
  http://wecan.nhlbi.nih.gov/
• The Institute of Medicine - Focus on Childhood Obesity
  Webpage includes resources and a number of fact sheets on the topic, including the role of schools, parents, communities, healthcare and government.
  http://www.iom.edu/focuson.asp?id=22593
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Home Page on Overweight and Obesity
  http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/
• CDC's National Leadership Role in Addressing Obesity
  This website provides an overview of the CDC's Role in Addressing Obesity, including links to FAQs, Fact Sheets and additional resources both within CDC and beyond.
  http://www.cdc.gov/doc.do/id/0900f3ec803207fd
• Improving Diet and Physical Activity: 12 Lessons From Controlling Tobacco Smoking
  The British Medical Journal published this report, which examines ways that attempts to control tobacco smoking can be applied to the chronic disease epidemics evolving from unhealthy diets and a lack of physical activity.
  Download: Lessons From Tobacco [38k pdf file]
• Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic That Threatens America--And What We Must Do to Stop It
  This book by Francine R. Kaufman, MD, published in March 2005, combines personal patient accounts from the author, an explanation of the societal trends that have brought the rise of obesity and diabetes to crisis proportions, and a call to action with solutions for individuals, families, communities, schools, the health care sector, and government, among them many innovative, successful programs that are already in existence--and offers real, concrete hope that this is a battle we can fight and win. Attached is an article by New York Times personal health columnist Jane E. Brody which summarizes and provides commentary on many of the key points of the book.
  Download: Diabesity [26k pdf file]
• A Nation at Risk: Obesity in the United States
  This sourcebook developed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the American Heart Association illustrates how prevalent obesity has become and examines the factors that contribute to the patterns of unhealthy eating and insufficient physical activity that are at the heart of this epidemic.
  Download: Nation at Risk [2.1MB pdf file]
  Download: Nation At Risk Slides [1.9MB ppt file]