Nearly
129 million adults in the United States are overweight,” said Arkansas
Governor Mike Huckabee in a recent press release. “Of these, more than
60 million are obese, and nine million are severely obese. Excess weight is
an indicator of poor health habits—such as poor nutrition and lack of
physical activity—known to cause or worsen chronic conditions such as
diabetes and heart disease. When combined with tobacco use, these health habits
are the leading cause of preventable death in the United States.
“These trends threaten the health of individual Americans and the American
economy. We already pay more for health care than people in other Western nations.
If we continue to tax our health care system with chronic conditions, the system
will
worsen.”
He’s right. Diabetes is a “self-management” disease. If you do your best, with good exercise and healthy diet, you can prevent or moderate diabetes’ severity and reduce the risk of complications.