The Impact of Type 2 Diabetes

Posted on February 22, 2017 at 10:20 AM by Iowa Weight Loss Specialists

Diabetes has nearly doubled since 1990. It is predicted that by 2050, one in three Americans will be directly affected by diabetes.

The United States has the unfortunate honor of being the world’s leader in obesity. Based on a 2014 study, type 2 diabetes is the most expensive medical condition related to being overweight or obese, costing $111.9 billion (or 26.1%) of total direct medical costs. The average cost per person for direct treatment of type 2 diabetes is $6,675. ¹It is the most prevalent and expensive health issue affecting the United States.

Iowa ranks 12^th in the nation for obesity (32.1% of population) and 36^th for prevalence of type 2 diabetes (8.8% of population).²

There are many causes for our growing waistlines:

More sedentary lifestyles
Electronics, such as television, video games, and movies are a prominent lifestyle rather than getting up and exercising or playing outside
Poor nutrition and inexpensive fast food
Service-based workforce and more electronically-dependent
Less physical labor jobs

Americans are eating more and doing less than we did 50 years ago and it’s catching up with us exponentially causing more and more health risks and diagnosis.

Those who are overweight are 1.5 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared to those of normal weight. Those who are obese are 3 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Are you overweight or obese? Obesity is measured according to your body mass index (BMI), which can be calculated here. Below are the BMI levels for normal, overweight and obesity classifications.

BMI between 18.5 – 24.9 is considered normal
BMI between 25 – 29.9 is considered overweight
BMI of 30 or over is considered obese

Type 2 diabetes can be prevented. Below is a list of lifestyle changes you can make or continue to prevent developing type 2 diabetes:

Exercise daily for 30 minutes or vigorously 3 times a week
Eat a balanced and nutritious diet
Avoid fast food and soft drinks
Schedule annual check-ups with your physician, especially if you have a family history of diabetes or other weight-related health concerns
Quit smoking
Reduce alcohol intake
Lose excess weight

At Iowa Weight Loss Specialists, our goal is to give our patients a long and healthy life. We offer surgical and non-surgical weight loss solutions that are effective. In many cases, we have been able to reduce or reverse symptoms of type 2 diabetes.

“Before surgery I was suffering from terrible sleep apnea and I was pre-diabetic. I had gestational diabetes and my primary care physician told me that if I did not get my excess weight off within 5 years, he predicted I’d be a full-blown diabetic. Since surgery my A1C levels are now in the normal range.” – IWLS Patient, Jennifer Mendez