In my neighborhood, the jingle of the ice cream truck is ever in the distance. For some lucky reason, the truck does not drive through my family's subdivision. I say 'lucky' because if the truck did roll through daily, I'd constantly be saying "no" and disappointing my kids. To me, ice cream is a treat. But somewhere along the way, junk food and so-called treats have become the anchor of many children's diets. Call me an ice cream truck grouch, but children are suffering from the highest rate of childhood obesity in our nation's history. It is well known childhood obesity is a contributing factor in the rising rates of type 2 diabetes among today's youth. What are we going to do about it?

Doris Paul from the Squamish Nation in Vancouver has one answer -- ban the ice cream truck. Her disdain for ice cream trucks has grown as she witnessed the soaring rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes in her nation's people and her own family. Ms. Paul's father was one of the biggest fans of the jingling bells, licking many an ice cream cone on hot summer days. A kid at heart, he generously bought ice cream for neighborhood children. But he died last year from diabetes complications, and Ms. Paul believes he never equated poor nutrition with his health problems. Ms. Paul's sister is also dealing with diabetes.

Ms. Paul's initiative to ban ice-cream trucks from three native communities on Vancouver's north shore was backed by the Nation's councillors. A mother of five, she also backed up her activism by eliminating junk food from her own pantry, replacing potato chips, soft drinks and ice cream with fruits and vegetables. Her family suffered for awhile, but now reports feeling healthier. A community garden is in the works.

Meeda Falou, manager of Rainbow Novelties, is not pleased. Falou reports banning smoking would have more of an impact on health, and parents have the choice to buy lower calorie treats such as sherbet or popsicles.

Perry Kendall, British Columbia's provincial health officer, fully supports the initiative. He did acknowledge ice cream is a revered tradition in the communities, but the native people have a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes (three to five times more common), and it is common sense to remove sources of junk food. Ms. Paul noted many of the nation's children were visiting the truck three or four times a day. Read the full story in Globe and Mail.

Shrek, Cocoa Krispies, Frosted Flakes. You don't have to be a health nut to find the breakfast cereal and snack treat aisles at your local supermarket a bit disturbing. Sugar, sugar and more sugar: seems that's the main ingredient in most of the cereals pitched at children. And the appalling effect of all that consumption on the nation's children is evident in record (and rising) levels of childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes. But it seems the food industry is beginning to respond to these concerns.

The New York Times reports that the Kellogg Company plans to quit advertising some of its least nutritious products to children younger than twelve. Those products are the ones packed with so-called "empty-energy" calories derived from sugar and fat, and also containing high levels of sodium. Kellogg also promised to end the use of licensed characters and toys to sell those products. In addition, Kellogg's President and CEO, David Mackay, is quoted as saying that the most sugar-soaked products may be reformulated to make them a tad healthier if it can be done "without negatively impacting the taste of the product."

Kellogg is doing this voluntarily, and expects to complete the changes over the course of the next year and a half. The marketing switch will affect marketing of about half of Kellogg's products. Needless to say, it is what you might call a preemptive move. By making this concession, the company will be able to counter accusations from food industry critics that its execs don't care about the health of our children. Oh, and there's the small matter of a lawsuit which, if it had proceeded, would have brought some horrible bad publicity to Kelloggs. The Center for Science in the Public Interest and the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, along with two Massachusetts parents, says The Times, were threatening to bring a suit against Kellogg and Nickelodeon for their tactics in pitching products to young children. These groups now say they will not pursue their case against Kellogg in light of the changes it has made.

Unless public health takes urgent measures, the Institute of Medicine warned in a report one in five children in the United States will be obese by the year 2010.

In response to this alarming message, Just Different Specialty Tea Company now offers Captain Teao's organic Tea for Kids - a calorie and caffeine free kid-friendly beverage. The tea is a refreshing drink that provides a healthy beverage option in the fight against childhood obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It is made with organic rooibos and is available in several flavors, such as: Very Vanilla, Orangie Orange, Lip Licking Lemon, Mango Madness and Peachy Keen Peach.

Captain Teao is the first character of his kind. He is a fictional, fun loving superhero who's on a mission to help kids fight the effects of childhood obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While on his mission Captain Teao invented Tea for Kids as a great tasting, healthy and refreshing alternative to high calorie sodas and fruit juices. Unlike sodas and juices -- Tea for Kids contains no sugar or caffeine and is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Cheers to Captain Teao for brewing such a socially responsible message. Here here!

A clinical trial found the effects of a high sugar diet did not increase insulin resistance in the men tested. Insulin resistance is an important marker of diabetes risk. This study showed that an intake of sucrose two and a half times above average consumption did not have adverse effects on insulin resistance in healthy, nondiabetic men.

The study observed 13 healthy men over a 6 week period. The men ate either a high-sugar diet (25% of their energy from sugar) or a low-sugar diet (10% of their energy from sugar). After 6 weeks, the subjects crossed over to receive the other diet for another 6 weeks, separated by a four week wash out period during which the subjects returned to their usual diet. Insulin resistance was measured by a two-step glucose clamp. The high sucrose diet showed no significant adverse effects, such as elasticity of the arteries (known as vascular compliance) which impacts on risk of heart disease, and glycaemic profiles.

This study does not support the notion that sugar intake has any adverse effect on the risk of diabetes in healthy, nondiabetic men. Yes, I agree with the findings of this study. They are healthy. Their response to sugar is healthy. What would a study of 13 men with a parent who has type 2 diabetes look like? I suspect those results may show a horse of a different color.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa say kids and teens with diabetes often have risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) as well. In a report published in Diabetes Care, the researchers describe their investigation of a multiracial population sample of over two thousand diabetic children and teenagers. They identified risk factors in these kids that are related to CVD. These include high cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and increased waist circumference.

The results showed around one fifth of the subjects (twenty-three percent of girls and nineteen percent of boys) had at least two CVD risk factors, but also showed that more than ninety percent of kids with Type 2 diabetes also had at least two additional CVD risk factors. In comparison, a sample of teens in the general population (including diabetics and non-diabetics) showed only 6.4 percent with at least two CVD risk factors. Not surprisingly, the following ethnic minorities appear to be most in danger: Native Americans, Asian/Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and African Americans. The authors conclude by stating the need to get childhood obesity and its related lifestyle issues (inactivity) under control pronto.

"The School-Lunch Test" is a lengthy article published in this weekend's edition of The New York Times Magazine. Written by Lisa Belkin, this is well worth a look. The piece profiles efforts (experiments, really) to promote healthy eating in elementary schools around the country. According to the author, those driving these efforts are super-dedicated and do whatever they can or have to do to work for change within the existing, rather complex, school lunch system. Belkin also says that while there is no hard and fast evidence that introducing healthy school lunches has any dramatic impact on kids' health, soaring rates of childhood obesity and related conditions - especially Type 2 diabetes - are the big motivators. The idea is that bringing in low-fat, high-fiber meals with fresh fruits and vegetables to at least some schools has to be better than doing nothing - i.e. continuing to let schools serve the abysmal meals they now give kids.

Interestingly, the healthy lunch program in Florida that is the primary focus of this article is funded by the Agatston Research Foundation. The foundation is the creation of Dr. Arthur Agatston, famous for his other creation: the South Beach Diet. Agatston is a cardiologist who hopes to impact kids' eating habits with as much success as he's had with adults. "The success of the book gave me a bully pulpit and an opportunity to change the way Americans eat," says Agatston. "One of the obvious places to start is with children. And that means schools."

Sigh. It's the old problem. How to switch the little tykes from tater tots to baked sweet potato. How to unclench their sticky little fists from their coveted soda cans and usher them to the newly introduced salad bars? I think the people driving this movement should all get medals! Pass the organic carrot sticks.

Back on August 7, I blogged a post about the dangers of viewing fruit juice as a healthy food product due to the high sugar content of juice. In it I mentioned the views of pediatric endocrinologist Dr. Robert Lustig of the University of California, San Francisco, who has become a vocal opponent of feeding juice to kids. Well, today I see he has popped up on another website due to other comments he has made about the foods Americans feed their children and the dangers of Western diets in general.

In a nutshell, Lustig's view is that the food industry dooms children to obesity. We all know that today's kids are consuming very high-cal (especially high-fructose), low-fiber diets. However, Lustig goes a step further and argues that such diets create a "toxic environment," leading to hormonal imbalances which result in overeating. The imbalances, Lustig says, result from complex insulin-related chemical interactions within the body that shut down the body's normal cues on when to eat and when not to eat. Until society in general puts pressure on the food industry, Lustig warns, the problem of childhood obestiy (and diabetes) will continue to worsen.

Lustig's findings have been published in Nature, Clinical Practice, Endocrinology and Metabolism.

The New York Times ran an essay yesterday by Harriet Brown in which she railed long and hard against the "well-intentioned food police," as she calls them. By this, Brown means the people who want to cut the heavily processed, high-fat, high-sugar junk foods and beverages currently served in school cafeterias and available in school vending machines.

I'm sorry, but I hate this sort of article. You know, the kind where you turn an argument on its head and make the good guys out to be the bad guys. It's wrong because it's unfair to those who are trying to solve a big problem. It's also overly simplistic. I agree that kids should be taught to enjoy all foods and live healthily, and that completely denying them any yummy treats encourages them to think about foods as "good" versus "bad," and that this does not foster healthy eating habits. But Brown doesn't suggest how we might otherwise reach out to the kids who consume junk food, day in and day out, at home and at school. How do we change their eating habits if not by changing menus at school cafeterias?

Brown even questions the validity of statistics showing the rise of obesity and Type 2 diabetes amongst American kids. Sorry, come again? While I like to see people critically reinterpret the health stats we see every day in the news, I don't think you can deny this particular  phenomenon is taking place. Just look around and see the kids in this country. How can Brown say the obesity problem is overexaggerated?

That's my view, anyway. Check out Brown's article and get back to me. I'd love to hear what other Diabetes Blog readers think.

When I read about the so-called Type 2 diabetes epidemic, I often wonder how we can go about stemming the tide. After all, Type 2 is associated with obesity and inactivity. How do you persuade people to make lifestyle changes? Real and lasting lifestyle changes, like walking more and making fruits and vegetables the basis of one's daily diet? An expert in pediatric diabetes picked up this theme in a conference talk on Wednesday sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Francine Kaufman is the director of the Center for Diabetes and Endocrinology at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. Kaufman's opinion is that the task will require a community-based approach. The message of the importance of living healthy (and, perhaps just as important, education about how to live healthy) needs to come from every sector of the community, not just from the medical system, Kaufman says. That means the workplace, schools and day care centers, the food industry, religious organizations and so on. I agree with this view, but how do we proceed from here? How do we bring about such a change? Do we just wait and hope it will happen?

Seeking to help curb alarmingly high rates of obesity and diabetes in young children, the YMCA has launched the Fit Kid program. The initiative, developed specifically for children, provides a way for parents and kids to break away from their sedentary lifestyle habits and to engage in some fun, fitness-enhancing activities. While not all kids with Type 2 diabetes are overweight, there is a close correlation between obesity and this form of the disease in children. By the way, the YMCA website (www.ymca.net) is a good place for parents thinking about how to raise healthy children and wondering how to get their tv and videogame obsessed kids on the move. The YMCA's booklet Healthy Kids Day, available at  http://www.ymca.net/downloads/hkd_parent_guide.pdf, contains suggestions for parents and is a good place to start.

"It's the crack of sweeteners," says Rep. Juan Zapata (pictured), Miami Republican, of high fructose corn syrup. Zapata, quoted in a Miami Herald article, and other lawmakers have declared war on the product that now seems ubiquitous, especially in processed foods aimed at school-aged children. Their conclusion? The abundant supply of such foods at schools, in cafeterias and vending machines, is one of the reasons for spiraling rates of childhood obesity and diabetes amongst youngsters. Zapata and his allies want to see the product banned from Florida's schools, and have filed a bill to that effect. Naturally, lobbyists for the corn syrup industry dispute allegations that the product is bad for your health. What really got me about this article, however, was the fact that the American Diabetes Association (ADA), when asked to weigh in on the debate, took such a wishy-washy position that it  may as well have openly come down on the side of the corn syrup industry. An ADA spokeswoman is quoted as saying "We don't think that high-fructose corn syrup is the enemy. People can have anything they want as long as it's in moderation." Huh? Well, isn't that the problem, ADA? Many schools in the US offer zero healthy and appetizing food options for kids. Soda machines are everywhere. So, yes, in theory it's true that no one food product is to blame for epidemic obesity and diabetes in American kids. But we live here, in reality.

An $11.4 million television ad campaign against childhood obesity is being revamped following complaints by parents of diabetic kids. The campaign, paid for by California's First 5 Commission, angered parents because the ads link poor eating habits with diabetes, without making a distinction between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The parents said they feared this could lead to discrimation/discriminatory attitudes towards their children. The ads also state that the disease reduces lifespans, which is not the kind of statement you want your young, diabetic child to hear on tv, right? I mean, clearly they were well-intentioned, but it's a little lacking in sensitivity towards diabetic kids, who could be understandably distraught by such a statement! As a result of this uproar, First 5 is spending between $15,000 and $20,000 on new versions of the ads, which they promise will draw a specific connection between poor dietary choices and Type 2 diabetes - and make it clear that this is different from Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease caused by genetics.

Mr. Eagle and Miss Rabbit are the cartoon stars of a new Eagle Books series that aims to educate Native American children about the value of healthy lifestyles. In the first book of the series, "Through the Eyes of Mr. Eagle," Mr. Eagle reminds a young Indian boy about the healthy ways of his ancestors. In another, "Knees Lifted High," Mr. Eagle tells kids to be active, to ride bikes or play ball instead of hanging out with video games. Government health officials say that Native American kids suffer from higher than average rates of obesity and diabetes. The initiative involves the Indian Health Service and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the nonprofit group First Book in order to distribute free copies of the book to tribes, schools and nonprofit groups.

It is a well documented fact that not only is obesity a hindrance for overall health, but that the rate of obesity development is on a worldwide increase. Weight problems plague both industrialized countries, due to sedentary lifestyles and the availability of fat laden, low fiber foods, and developing countries, because of lack of nutrition. One of the most alarming statistics to recently arise from research is the growth of infant obesity in the Western world. Weight issues among infants have now reached those of adults, this is such a concern because heavy children grow up to become heavy adults. The health repercussions associated with a life of obesity are severe and wide ranging. According to Dr. Javier Salvador, Director of the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University Hospital of the University of Navarra, being overweight produces significant changes in health, particularly those related to cardivascular issues such as high blood pressure, cardiopathy and ischemia; but also problems of a metabolic nature such as diabetes type 2 and changes in blood fat, apnea during sleep and even alterations in the joints. Obesity is also involved in changes in liver functions, resulting in the infiltration of fat which causes to the liver deteriorate and may end up causing cirrhosis of the liver. But what is perhaps the most alarming of the more recent obesity research, is the link between being overweight and the occurrence of breast cancer, for women with a family history of breast cancer obese members of these families are more likely to contract the disease.

A wake up call is desperately needed. Nutrition counseling, changes in lifestyles and an overall awareness needs to be imparted upon adults and children.

It's not surprising these days to see a headline warning that obese children are at a greater risk of having diabetes. But how great a risk would you expect? According to the results of a study conducted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, obese kids are a whopping twice as likely to have diabetes than their normal-weight peers. This study was pretty substantial in scope: parents and guardians of more than 100,000 children were interviewed. The results? In a nutshell, three in every 1,000 of these kids had either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes, while obese kids (aged six to seventeen years) were more than twice as likely to have diabetes. The Ann Arbor researchers also report that diabetes is significantly more common among white kids (nearly four per 1,000) than their African-American, Hispanic or multiracial peers (around two per 1,000).