Diabesity by Francine R. Kaufman, MD
Kaufman, pediatric endocrinologist and former president of the American Diabetes Assn., writes about what she’s been seeing in her practice at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles: an explosion in obesity and type 2 diabetes in children. The book has loads of stories, many heartbreaking, about the increasing waistlines in this country and the resulting health problems associated with it.
Frankly, I found this disappointing. Yes, the epidemic is here; yes, it’s serious; yes, it’s debilitating; yes, yes, yes. But the subtitle, “…And What We Must Do to Stop It” falls woefully short on delivery. Don’t get me wrong, the book is very valuable in describing what having diabetes is like, and why you would never want to have it. That, alone, is worth the price of admission. It’s also great at reinforcing those of us who already have this disease to be more diligent at monitoring BG and acting when things go out of kilter.
But where it falls short is probably the most important part: how to change the American mindset. Kaufman gives the example of how she was able to “spearhead” (in her words) some changes in the LA school system and at her hospital. Great. Fantastic. But she’s also someone who’s the head of a department in a prestigious hospital, former president of one of the most influential health organizations in the country, a world traveller, lecturer and highly published researcher. Of course people will listen to her. What are the rest of us to do? Personal responsibility is one thing, but even she points out that the USDA’s “Five a day” program (the one trying to convince the public to eat five servings of fruit and vegetables a day) has a yearly budget of $1.1 Million whereas the food industry has an advertising budget of $25 billion with 80% of it devoted to fast food, soda, and sugared cereal. Entire school systems are dependent on handouts through deals with Coca-cola and other soft drink companies. How do you change that? There are few practical pieces of advice here.
She gives only one example of what it’s like dealing with the health care industry from the “consumer’s” point of view and it ended in the death of the person involved. She tells several stories about how she saw someone suffering and came to their aid, forcing the machinery of the health care industry to bend to her will. Yeah, well, fine. And agian, what do normal people do? Does she know, for example, that test strips are $1.00 each? “Test at least four times a day,” say says. Well, luckily, I make enough money to do that. The US minumum wage is $5.15 per hour. With taxes removed, that’s about $4.00 That means someone making minimum wage must work one hour a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, just to test. That doesn’t even start to include meds, or office visits, of glucometers, or syringes, or… or… or…
Running around yelling “This must change” isn’t very helpful. Yes, it must change. I think anyone who’s dealt with insurance companies would totally agree. “Become outraged.” Okay. I’m outraged. Now what?
Frankly, terribly disappointing. I think Morgan Spurlock did a better job.
“Write your congressman.” Yeokay.
