Diabesity and the Terrible Three

© Jacquelyn Johnston, M.Ed.

Are you a baby boomer? If so, this message is for you. We boomers are members of the diabesity wave. In the last 30 years there have been a lot of weight issues among boomers, and lurking in the shadows are the terrible three—diabetes, heart and stroke, and kidney disease.

As boomers age they will put an unprecedented strain on the health care system—sometimes called the disease management system. People whose weight has contributed to heart attacks and stroke will strain the cardiac care resources of our nations’ hospitals.

This generation grew up with every labour-saving device available to them, cars to take them everywhere, even short distances. Boomers have had easy access to drugs of all sorts to mask symptoms and prolong denial in many cases. They have had access to workplaces with little need for physical work and large servings of high-calorie foods with more eye appeal than nutritional value.

This generation’s economics has allowed them to enshrine the practice of marrying entertainment with food, or rather pretend food that has expanded their waistlines and generated more muffin-tops than ever before. This generation’s grandchildren risk having a shorter life-span than their parents’, largely due to childhood obesity.

But heart and stroke are not the only monsters skulking in the shadows for baby boomers. Kidney disease has joined the trio. Diabetes brings its own terror scene, with eye problems, foot ailments and worse. We no longer have to imagine a three-way hit: we all know people who have diabesity, obesity and heart disease or high blood pressure and kidney disease. They come in sets now, and most of it could have been avoided with some basic thought about nutrition and exercise.

What does this generation need to do NOW? Find out by downloading my free report from the right of this page. Add a comment to this blog, or call me. Then get a good night’s sleep. Want to know why? Read yesterday’s blog.

A happy and healthy retirement to you.

Jacquelyn