Francine Kaufman, a past national president of the American Diabetes Association, tells a personal story from 1995, one of the first times she had seen a child with type 2 diabetes. Kaufman says that this thirteen year old girl had a blood sugar level five times higher than normal for a young teen, weighed 267 pounds, and was only just over five feet tall. Kaufman also says that the girl had been drinking a lot of juice and soda throughout her life, obtained a diet which consisted of fried foods, candy bars, and meals from fast food restaurants, had no meaningful physical education courses in her school curriculum, and had nowhere safe to play in her neighborhood. (1:14)

 

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Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) talks at the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions’ hearing on child obesity and says that the reasons are clear as to why childhood obesity is growing into an epidemic. Dodd explains that the lack of a nutritious diet, an increase in TV watching, and a decrease in physical activity has caused childhood obesity to become a problem that “affects us all.” (1:31)

 

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