Diabetes is the leading cause of
death in the United States according to Nutrition Concepts & Controversies,
and also states that people with diabetes are almost twice as likely to develop
heart disease, have a stroke, or die on any day. Diabetes is defined as having too much
glucose in your blood and not having enough insulin to help break it down (Type
2 Diabetes p 1). There are many
different types of diabetes but type 2 is the most common of them. It can be genetic or can be a reflection of a
person’s diet. The most likely ways to
develop type 2 diabetes is being over the age of 45, being overweight, or have
an inactive lifestyle. A study I found
looked at the correlation between watching TV and the development of diabetes and
obesity. (This could include being on
the computer also). In this study they
found that, “each 2 hour a day increment in TV watching was associated with a
23% (95% confidence interval [CI], 17%-30%) increase in obesity and a 14% (95%
CI, 5%-23%) increase in risk of diabetes” (Hu p 1).
I
thought this was an incredibly high percentage of women that developed diabetes
just from watching 2 hours of TV a week.
That is just about one movie! Dr.
Frank Hu et al also found that there was a 5% increase in obesity and a 7%
increase in diabetes just from sitting at work for 2 hours.
These numbers pertain
to almost everyone in the nation whether it is a student sitting in class, a
teacher grading papers all night, or a worker sitting at their desk all day
doing paper work. Also a two hours does
not even seem like anything when you are sitting at your computer trying to get
homework done before a deadline, or working all day. Some people might sit for 4 or more hours
straight. Imagine what their numbers
would be for developing diabetes and obesity.
Luckily they
these websites did provide ways to help prevent and control diabetes if you
already have developed it. The National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse recommends 30 to 60 minutes of exercise a
day. Also to eat fruits, vegetables,
whole grains, and lean meats. To go
along with this Dr. Frank Hu et al continued with their study finding that,” standing
or walking around at home (2 h/d) was associated with a 9% (95% CI, 6%-12%)
reduction in obesity and a 12% (95% CI, 7%-16%) reduction in diabetes. Each 1
hour per day of brisk walking was associated with a 24% (95% CI, 19%-29%)
reduction in obesity and a 34% (95% CI, 27%-41%) reduction in diabetes (p
1). This doesn’t seem like to much to do
if it means saving money in medicine and your life. If there was an exact number of hours to walk
or exercise each day that guaranteed that I didn’t develop diabetes I know that
I would do it.
We all know
someone that has diabetes and know how serious it can be. I can name 5 right off the top of my
head. So do yourself a favor and get out
and exercise because most likely you have been sitting at the computer as long
as I have to get your homework done, this could save your life. So teachers when we ask to go to the bathroom
in the middle of the lecture it might not be because we are not interested or
do not want to listen we are just trying to prevent ourselves from getting
diabetes. Also you could let us get up
and move around during class time, make it part of the lesson, it will help us
learn and fight diabetes. Teachers can
help improve the world in more ways than just teaching further generations they
can beat diabetes.
Hu FB, Li TY, Colditz GA, Willett WC, Manson
JE. Television Watching and Other Sedentary Behaviors in Relation to Risk of
Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women. JAMA. 2003;289(14):1785-1791. Accessed June 20,
2013. http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=196345
National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.
Type 2 Diabetes: What You Need to Know. NDIC.
2012. Accessed June 20, 2013. http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/type2_ES/WYNTK_type2_508.pdf
Sizer, F., & Whitney, E. (3013). Nutrition: Concepts & Controversies (13th ed, p.111-155). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning
I found your discussion about diabetes and physical inactivity to be very interesting. I believe the most important thing to take away from your research is the importance of an all around healthy lifestyle. The combination of eating unhealthy foods and a sedentary lifestyle is often deadly. As you mentioned, it may lead to Type 2 diabetes or heart disease as a result of becoming overweight or obese.
ReplyDeleteThe importance of avoiding sitting for too long cannot be stressed enough. Sitting for long periods of time often means that the person is replacing physical activity with these activities. Even if exercise is part of your daily routine, sitting for too can effect your ability to focus. Our attention capabilities decrease after long periods of time. A simple walk around the library or your room every half an hour can enable you to focus better as well as decrease long periods of sitting which, as you discussed, is thought to significantly reduce the risk of developing diabetes and other weight related diseases.
I appreciate your call-to-arms in terms of reducing patterns of sedentary behavior. Even teaching an online class has necessitated an increase in my own sedentary behavior and of course screen time. Rather than energetically walking around a classroom and giving an animated lecture I am tied to my desk and portable microphone. Sometimes, and I know I am not alone, I find myself sweating after teaching a lecture in a regular classroom. When teaching in a traditional classroom I always try to build in times for my students to get up, move chairs, or take a quick stand and turn to say hi to a neighbor. I was at the Saint Ambrose University library the other week and I left my computer a few times to stretch my legs and take an outside stroll towards Cosgrove to regroup, rest my eyes, and take a quick respite from the AC. As a former physical educator who completed my training at the height of the "personal fitness" turn, I often wonder if it is a good thing when we marry the screen time of video game and televisions with the treadmill or elliptical runner? Do we need to be able to watch Modern Family or Fox News in between dead lifts? I am not entirely convinced that it's a good pairing.
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