Physicians find it takes a village to help tackle diabetes

Public health officials and doctors turn to community groups, churches, schools and government officials to increase opportunities for people to exercise and eat right.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Feb. 11, 2002.

Frustrated by the stream of kids coming into his office obese and either already diabetic or on the verge, pediatrician John Menchaca, MD, of Fort Worth, Texas, met with the local school administration to try to convince them to increase opportunities for the young people to exercise.

His position was strengthened by data he helped the University of North Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health gather. The findings: Extremely high rates of diabetes risk factors among the Fort Worth students. The result: All children in kindergarten through fifth grade are now required to participate in physical education.

But Dr. Menchaca did not stop there. Equally concerned about his patients' parents, he has also met with the community's large employers to lobby them to provide access to exercise facilities for their employees.

"We now have close to 100% compliance in the schools, and the kids are getting their physical education," he said. "I'm still working on the companies."

Around the country, physicians are looking for ways to improve the management of diabetes and prevent the onset of the disease, which is increasing rapidly in prevalence. From 1991 to 2000, diabetes increased 49%.

"The epidemics of diabetes and obesity are clearly escalating in the United States," said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Jeffrey P. Koplan, MD, MPH. "If we continue on this course for the next decade, the public health implications in terms of both disease and health care costs will be staggering." [...]