'Diabetes Belt' Outlined

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Change the name of this map to "Consentrations of Conservatives vs Progressives in the U.S." and you're still right on target. This map perfectly demonstrates willful ignorance of these "Tea Bags".

ginger of NY 3:02PM March 26, 2011

Just spend a night watching FoodTV to see what people all over are consuming.
I like Triple D a/k/a Diners, Drive Ins and Dives but now maybe it should be Quad D a/k/a Diners, Drive Ins, Dives and Diabetes.

mark of WY 8:45AM March 09, 2011

The advent of fast food was in my lifetime. It was the best-tasting, cheapest food I ever ate. Give me another hamburger with fries, fried chicken, or pizza. I loved it. I couldn't eat just one bowl of ice cream.
My eating habits are with me still. It just seems so normal.
As I grew older, I put on a pound a year. Until ugh! No pictures.
We recently read The China Study. What an eye-opener. I wasn't expecting what I found in those pages. It seems that the meat industry, the dairy industry, and every food we consider normal have been buying the congress so they wouldn't do the right thing. That is, tell us that our diet contains way too much of the food that makes us fat and unhealthy. They are paid not to tell us. They legislate against any bill that would interfere with the way we have always eaten even if it is killing us. Like the cigarette industry, it will eventually come to light.
It will be too late for some of us, but I hope our grandchildren will know...
Yes, I still eat meat and ice cream. But less than I did. But I'm not a victim, I'm a willing hedonist.
Are the M&Ms all gone? Any chips?
Working on it. Sort of.

Al Vekovius of AR 8:36PM March 08, 2011

I am the parent of a child with type I diabetes. I wish that the reporters who author these articles would be a little more sensitive to the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes. They are always lumped together but have nothing in common. While type 2 is often brought on by the lifestyle of the individual who deals with it, type 1 is a totally different condition.
Type 1 is an autoimmune disease that has nothing to do with diet and lifestyle, it is a lack of properly working insulin cells in the pancreas. The medical community has not determined what causes the body to attack itself, and there is no treatment except insulin.
The end of the article does suggest that 90% of all diabetes is type 2, but what is forgotten is that most people in our country only understand type 2, so children who have type 1 live with people who assume the reason they are diabetic is their own poor eating and exercise choices. In fact, most kids with type 1 are very healthy and active.
In the future, it would be helpful in the education of our country to clearly label diabetes as type 1 and type 2 in articles and headlines, so people could understand that there is a huge difference between these diseases.

Jim of OK 5:18PM March 08, 2011

this site blows -- could you make the text a little less readable?

Frederick of AL 5:15PM March 08, 2011

The contributing factors for the Diabetes Belt seems to be low income, unhealthful diet and lack of activity. As more people are covered under the Affordable Care Act, preventive measures will be more common and, hopefully, reduce the number of people suffering.

Podesta of NY 5:01PM March 08, 2011

People are fat and stupid in the American south. Big surprise.

Kevin Chicwak of KY 4:59PM March 08, 2011

People never cease to amaze me with their unkind remarks and conclusions. Poor does not always equal stupid. Soft drinks are not in everyone's fridge, nor are cakes and pies on the table. I agree with @I live there who is right on the money with their list of contributing factors and the fact that we are trying to make it better. Check out our grocery stores and see the poor selection of fresh vegetables and fruits offered and the exorbitant prices they carry. Unless you raise your own, you're limited to canned or frozen, which are either high priced or lacking their natural nutrients. How about a little help here from corporate America? Oh, no wait, you might have to give up one or two of your skiing vacations or trips to the Bahamas to frolic on the beach. Or maybe even, heaven forbid, a liposuction or tummy tuck.

Juanita of KY 4:28PM March 08, 2011

I wonder what the correlation in these areas is with consumption of high fructose corn syrup, which is widely used in sodas and many canned and processed foods.
While fruits, which contain sucrose, are good for us because of the vitamins etc. that they contain, consumption of a lot of fructose is unhealthy because unlike other sugars, it does not stimulate the release of a hormone called leptin, which gives us a feeling of satiety--consequently it can leave us still feeling hungry, or not as full as we should feel, and ready to eat more. It also is a foundation for fat production. In rats, it's been shown to increase insulin resistance and triglyceride production. There's still more research to be done, but it may be a culprit behind our increasing levels of diabetes.

Donna of CA 4:22PM March 08, 2011

We don't want you to bring our ranking down. Colorado has the lowest rate of diabetes because we have lowest obesity rate in the US. And with the exception of Boulder, we are NOT progressives by any stretch of the imagination. It's really cold here and it snows everyday, so we're always shoveling snow. We even get snow in the summer!!! We have a lot less oxygen in the air due to the altitude, so overweight people can't go more than 10 steps without gasping for breath. No beaches, so spending time outside requires exercise. The food here is just awful. When you order Iced Tea, there isn't any sugar in it and you can't find good white gravy anywhere.
Most cases of diabetes are Type 2, which means your lifestyle is the main culprit. Is it any surprise that the cultures that embrace "Southern Cooking" are the worst affected? Why do you people deep fry corn on the cob? Honestly.

Eric of CO 4:22PM March 08, 2011