Did you know that people who modify their lifestyle by losing weight (10% of their Body Mass Index) consume more vegetables, eat fiber, exercise, and reduce soda consumption, can decrease their risk of developing diabetes by up to 58%? Our friends at Salud180.com share this information with us.

“If people just started to make small changes in their lives, like walking, eating fiber, and reducing the amount of sugar they consume, they could lose weight and reduce their BMI, thereby preventing the development of metabolic diseases like diabetes.”

Dr. Barquera indicates that there are more than 10 million Mexicans with this disease; although half of them are unaware, and only 25% of this number receives timely treatment.

“What people don’t know is that if there are risk factors such as overweight, obesity, family history, or if people begin to lose weight without a valid reason, these are red flags that they could develop this disease.”

According to Dr. Barquera, 83,000 people die each year in Mexico due to diabetes: “In 2010 alone, the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) spent 14 billion pesos to treat the disease.”

What to Do

One of the Federal Government's initiatives for the past four years has been to regulate the advertising that children see to start curbing childhood obesity, which leads to metabolic diseases like diabetes:

“This is something that is currently being discussed, but many things still need to be approved; however, the fact that less calorie content is displayed may be effective.”

That is what the government is responsible for, but people in their homes can make smart choices like starting to read nutritional labels, preferring an apple over a mini chocolate, which, although they may have the same calories, the fruit contains fiber and the sugar does not go straight to your pancreas.”