One More Reason to Eat Your Veggies: Type 2 Diabetes at Highest Rate Ever in LA County

The Department of Public Health released a report recently that might make Angelenos rethink their next cheeseburger or day-long TV-watching marathon. "Type 2 diabetes, which is primarily caused by obesity, accounts for over 90 percent of all diabetes cases in the county. This coincides with rising rates of obesity which increased from 14.3% to 22.2% (1997-2007) in adults."There are other risk factors people should be aware of for Type 2 diabetes, which include "physical inactivity, age, family history of diabetes, race/ethnicity, and history of gestational diabetes." Unlike Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes can be controlled or prevented through diet and exercise.

Dr. Jonathan E. Fielding, Director of Public Health for LA County offers a grim statistic: "Diabetes has been the 6th leading cause of death in LA County since 1997, and contributes to cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death." He adds that healthy habits, like exercising regularly, and eating a healthy, balanced died "improve quality of life and save lives."