Gains from teens’ losses
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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.
A study indicates a little more physical activity and a little better eating pattern can go a long way in reducing an obese teen’s risk of developing diabetes. Researcher Robert Berkowitz of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia saw this in data on 113 teens ages 13 to 17 with an average weight of 200 pounds.
Berkowitz looked at reducing their body mass indexes – the ratio of their weight to their height – as a way to improve their insulin sensitivity, which indicates how well their bodies handle sugar.
“Modest weight loss – an 8 percent reduction in their weight – resulted in major improvements in insulin sensitivity in these very overweight adolescents.”
The study in the Journal of Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
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