Obesity leads to diabetes
HOUGHTON – According to the Global burden of disease's 1980 to 2013 statistics, more than 37% of the world's population is overweight and obese, but in South Africa it's about 61% of the population who are overweight and obese.
Obesity is the number one risk factor that could cause a person to develop Type 1 diabetes.
With high statistics in South Africa, education and information was the name of the game on 14 November, when the team of doctors and specialists from the CDE invited guests to the premises to learn all they could about diabetes and how to live with it. The theme for this year’s World Diabetes Day was ‘a healthy breakfast’, so the CDE team treated guests to a delicious breakfast of oats, yoghurt and fruit. People turned up from far and wide to attend the event and educate themselves about the disease and how to manage it in their everyday lifestyle.
“Good decision-making is the cornerstone for managing diabetes,” said Michael Brown from the CDE. He explained that what they aim to do is guide their patients to make better eating decisions and convert the idea of being healthy from a “diet” concept into a “lifestyle” concept.
The CDE kinetics team guided guests through interval training exercises that will assist patients in keeping their glucose and insulin levels balanced. A Q&A sesssion was held with IBO Youth Heavyweight boxer, Flo, who answered questions about how he as an athlete manages his condition – a condition that often keeps people from training rigorously due to the health risk.
The guests, made up of diabetes and non-diabetes sufferers, were able to ask questions and interact with experts. It was a real success for World Diabetes Awareness Day.
