Obesity and Diabetes are two of the most frequently seen diseases among American citizens. Recent studies revealing that about 61% of our American population is overweight or obese, and the majority of this same group has diabetes. Further confirming a connection is the fact that obese people very often have elevated glucose levels.

Most of the time, obese people become glucose intolerant, which makes them more susceptible to diabetes. If you are an overweight person, you should be watchful of the signs of diabetes, as well as making a commitment to getting down to a healthy weight. Obesity and diabetes are both preventable diseases, and it’s within your power to keep it from happening to you.

Diet Therapy

To help prevent obesity and diabetes, you will need to begin by taking a close look at your real food intake. Are you eating without thinking, and not keeping track at all? That is one thing that leads to real problems, and to avoid this you just need to start monitoring your food intake. Keep track of everything you eat, and control the calorie level. Introduce a lot of soluble fiber into your diet via foods like whole grains, fruits, and veggies.

Dietary experts says that eating a lot of fiber is a good way to elevate your metabolism. Because fiber gives the benefit of absorbing water, your stomach will not be sending you those hunger signals, and you’ll be feeling full until your next meal. Random and careless snacking is what causes many people to gain weight, and this is something you can stay away from when you have healthy high fiber foods fueling you!

The benefits of exercise

You can help to avoid both obesity and diabetes if you exercise along with a healthy diet. It’s best to start slowly, especially if you’re not used to working out or do very little physical activity. You don’t want to injure yourself by jumping into a high impact exercise routine right away!

Start your exercise routine with sessions of about 30 minutes, or maximum 45 minutes. Begin by exercising at least three times a week, more if you feel ready. Allow yourself some time to adjust to the new activity levels, because your aim is to get healthy- not to hurt yourself by moving too fast. Your body will become more fit quickly, and soon you’ll be able to increase your workout levels and take on new exercise. It’s completely possible to get healthy, exercise, and avoid both obesity and diabetes with some dedication on your part.

There is only one type of discrimination that is considered “okay” in society today- prejudice towards obese people. While most Americans are overweight(eight out of ten Americans today are overweight), with 43 million people obese, the prejudice towards the obese members of our society is all too common. It’s far beyond fat jokes and nasty comments- discrimination towards obese people happens in jobs, in public, and in healthcare.

Public Obesity Discrimination

Unfortunately, obesity discrimination is especially common to a group of people who are already frequently discriminated against: women. While it’s quite rare for obese men to be mocked or treated poorly, obese women are quite frequent targets of ridicule and nasty comments. It’s been reported by women that they are sometimes “rated” according to their body size and shape by groups of men they happen to walk past.

Another subtle form of obesity discrimination is public scolding. Although it’s never well-mannered to correct a stranger’s behavior in public (unless the stranger is behaving illegally, in which case it’s best to leave the correction to the police), it’s especially offensive to tell someone how many calories or in a food or whether or not the food is good for them. I once had a woman tell me, “You’d have such a pretty face if you could just lose a few pounds.” I considered saying, “And you’d have such a great personality if you’d only keep your mouth shut,” but self control won out. Darn it.

Obesity discrimination is not restricted to adults by any means – we see it happening as early as kindergarten age. Both boys and girls say that fat kids are considered outcasts by the group even at this very young age. A common insult to kids this age is to accuse someone of having a crush on “the fat kid”.

Discrimination in Healthcare

Obesity discrimination is also commonly seen in the healthcare field. Many private insurance companies will not offer insurance coverage to obese patients due to the perceived increased cost. Additionally, many doctors treat obese patients with less courtesy and respect than they deserve. Some doctors simply tell their patients “go on a diet”, without giving really in depth guidance, even when physicians know that about 95% of dieters will regain all their weight!

Discrimination in the Work Place

Employment discrimation is the most commonly seen type of discrimination against obese people that we see today. Statistics compiled by the American Obesity Association say that most employers tend to assign unflattering and untrue labels to obese people(such as “emotionally inept”), even when the obese person is just as well qualified as anyone else. Furthermore, employers constantly give obese people a lower ranking for job suitability than even those who are former felons, and mental patients! In fact, The American Obesity Association did a study which showed that obesity has a greater negative impact on securing a job than race, age, and sex.

While the law protects people from discrimination based on age, sex, race, religion, and often sexual orientation, it does not protect obese people at all. The simple fact that obesity discrimination is technically not illegal allows it to take place far too often in today’s world.

Medical professionals have documented many of the health issues related to, or blamed on obesity and have recently concluded the connection between obesity and infertility. There are many possible causes for infertility, but studies have shown obese women, those with a body mass index over 30, generally have inconsistent menstrual cycles, leading to inconsistent ovulation, reducing the chances of becoming pregnant.

The number of women who are overweight or obese suffering infertility and many of them have been diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which is most often seen along with obesity, irregular menstruation and inconsistent ovulation. In many suffering from obesity and infertility in-vitro fertilization efforts have been unsuccessful. The connection between obesity and diabetes as hyperinsulinemia is showing to have an impact or fertility.

Obesity May Reduce Fertility

Studies have revealed that since obese women more frequently experience irregular ovulation and have more immature eggs, they will also experience a higher rate of tubal pregnancies. Tubal pregnancies occur in the fallopian tubes rather than the uterus and are not viable since the fetus can’t develop properly outside of the uterus. Tubal pregnancy may be one of the main reasons that obese women have a high rate of miscarriage, but there are also other possible factors which are not yet known and are still being studied.

Birth related complications more frequent in obese mothers

Recent studies in Sweden have shown that high blood pressure during pregnancy is four to five times more likely to strike obese women. Even more troubling is the revelation that stillbirths are more common in women with a body mass index of 35 or more. This appears to be clearly obesity related, since women with BMIs of 26 or less have far less stillbirths.

Babies born of obese mothers have two or three times more of a chance of having their shoulder get caught on the mother?s pelvis, which can cause injury or death to the newborn infant. There is also a higher possibility of the infant having a higher risk of gestational diabetes. The causes of many of the problems with obesity and infertility are being translated into many of the problems associated with pregnancies in obese women.

Recent years have shown us a great deal of helpful research and studies about the problems and connections with infertility and obesity, and there are still other connections being studied now. Since Hypothyroidism is more often seen in obese people, and the thyroid has certain connections to the health of mother and baby during gestation,it’s quite possible that it plays a connecting role. Hypothyroidism is being examined now, and future research will reveal how all the factors may be connected.