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Chiamaka Eleje
Professor Gina Lawrence
English 1311
June 29, 2014

Type 2 diabetes is growing rapidly in the United States, as well as throughout the world.
The epidemic has raised the question of whether or not it is up to the government or up to the
individual to help reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown that
management of nutrition and physical activity help reduce the risks of type 2 diabetes. However,
the lack of education and the lack of government intervention are contributing factors into why
the epidemic has reached the level of intensity that it is at today. Through government
intervention and an expanded education of the risks of type 2 diabetes, we would be able to
further diminish this epidemic and help reduce the number of those at risk for developing the
disease.
1. Basu, S., Seligman, H. K., Gardner, C., & Bhattacharya, J. (2014). Ending SNAP subsidies
for sugar-sweetened beverages could reduce obesity and type 2 diabetes. Health
Affairs,33(6), 1032-1036.
This article talks about lawmakers proposition to modify the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits to encourage healthy food choices. Two policies
proposed include a ban on using SNAP to purchase sugary beverages, and a subsidy in
which every SNAP dollar spent on healthy food choices, thirty cents would be credited
back to SNAP users benefit cards. These restrictions would help low-income families
and urban families in which obesity and type 2 diabetes affect the most due to an
inability to provide healthy food choices for themselves.
This article analyzes how government intervention in the prevention of type 2 diabetes
could be made possible. With low-income Americans having the highest prevalence of
obesity and type 2 diabetes than the rest, these changes in SNAP policy could benefit
those populations that are affected by health consequences of bad diets and nutrition.
SNAP participants consume about twice as many sugar-sweetened beverages as they do
fruits and vegetables, and the study shows that the subsidy would more than double the
proportion of SNAP participants who would meet the federal recommendations for daily
vegetable and fruit outtake. Since taxpayers pay for SNAP participants and their
healthcare, a decrease in health problems associated with poor nutrition would prove
beneficial for the government as well.
This article is good for my research because it further shows how the governments
intervention to the food-obesity crisis could prove beneficial for all those at risk for
developing type 2 diabetes. The article is peer reviewed and posted in a health care
journal which, once again, is taken from a medical and subjective standpoint. The article
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is effective in providing statistical data for their argument, and how, from their studies,
this plan could be proven beneficial for all included.
2. Brody, J. E. (2003, December 23). Stampede of diabetes as U.S. races to obesity. The New
York Times [New York], p. 7.
This article explores the differences between type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well as how
it formerly affected primarily adults. The name had been changed to type 2 diabetes with
the stretch to children and adolescents now being a pertinent statistic. The article focuses
on how Americans are too fat and too idle, and how this is contributing to the diabetes
epidemic. Maintaining a healthy diet and exercising are the main ways in which one can
prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.
The article reiterates what the scholarly journals had been saying. The epidemic is
growing too fast, and with solutions so simple, it is an alarming epidemic that too many
are ignoring. The onset of diabetes brings a wide variety of other health problems along
with it, so prevention of diabetes is key.
This article is credible in that it is posted in a credible newspaper. However, it posts data
that could be found anywhere online and had no medical credibility to it. The factual
data is correct, though, and provides a brief outlook into a lot of problems that could be
associated with type 2 diabetes.
3. Dabelea, D., & Harrod, C. (2013). Role of developmental overnutrition in pediatric obesity
and type 2 diabetes. Nutrition Reviews, 71(1), 562-567.
Dabeleas and Harrods article Role of Developmental Overnutrition in Pediatric
Obesity and type 2 Diabetes outlines the connection between over-eating during
pregnancy and type 2 diabetes. The article focuses on a study on the Pima Indian
women, which is a population with one of the highest type 2 diabetes risks in the world.
The study resulted in showing that maternal obesity is a link to obesity in offspring. The
study also exemplified the link between maternal obesity and other metabolic syndromes.
Based on the results of this study, I conclude that it is, in part, the adults responsibility to
maintain a healthy diet to prevent obesity-related diseases. A mother who maintains a
healthy diet transfers that diet to their children. According the study, maternal diabetes
was responsible for 35.4% of type 2 diabetes cases among offspring, compared to
offspring who were not exposed. Obese pregnant women with insulin resistance transfer
any and all excess of nutrients to their fetus. This, according to the article, causes for the
fetal pancreas to secrete excess insulin, which is a growth hormone. This is the factor that
is presumed to be a cause for a risk of obesity in offspring later in life.
This source is credible because it is from a third-person standpoint and based on
statistical data. The article is from a nutritional review journal that has a primary concern
with the overall well-being of its readers. The article probably would not be seen by
individual citizens, rather educated medical professionals who use the information to gain
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clarity on the issue. The information in the article was gathered from 42 other sources, all
focused on the issue of diabetes and obesity.
4. Haygood, W. (2010, July 12). Kentucky town of Manchester illustrates national obesity
crisis.The Washington Post [Washington], pp. 1-5. Retrieved from
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2010/07/11/AR2010071103524.html
This article describes the problems with availability of food. The small town of
Manchester is surrounded by fast food joints, with healthier food choices wildly
unavailable to them. The lack of exercise facilities as well is contributing to the health
crises and the growth of type 2 diabetes and obesity. The article focuses on how if
patients were to lose weight, their obesity-related issues would disperse, and how it is a
vicious cycle of an inability to eat good foods, inability to workout due to the lack of
gyms, and a lack of nutritional education that are all contributing the growth of this
crisis.
This article is good because it depicts real-world situations that are contributing to the
obesity and diabetes epidemic. It gives an account of a real town with real people that
are facing these problems with no solution in near sight. The article states a problem, and
then provides could-be solutions to help not only this town, but all smaller towns with
the same issue.
The article is a good one because it was posted in a respected national magazine. There
may be biases because the author of the article grew up in the small town in which he
was talking about, however that bias is a good one that gives a first person account of the
realities of this epidemic. The article was not peer reviewed by a medical expert,
however there were medical experts cited within the article that gives it more credibility.
5. Share, M., & Strain, M. (2007). Making schools and young people responsible: a critical
analysis of Ireland's obesity strategy. Health and Social Care in the Community, 16(3),
234-243.

This article is on the obesity epidemic that prompted the Irish government to create a
taskforce in an attempt to control the obesity problem. The article focuses on the
responsibility of schools and young people in controlling their food input and energy
output in order to reduce their weight and reduce the risks of contracting obesity-related
diseases. The article also focuses on the correlation between risk and participation;
individuals are put into positions where their attitudes and beliefs are used to navigate
risk and make healthy choices.
The article addresses the issue between government intervention and persons
responsibility in food consumption. The article states that it is the persons responsibility
to make healthy choices, however government aid in making those choices easier is key.
Government implemented programs such as Food Dudes and Nutrition Education at
Primary School (NEAPS) teach schools, students, and parents ways to manage
themselves and make smarter choices.
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This source is credible because it is a scholarly article that was peer reviewed. The
article is not bias because it was printed in a medical journal that had studies and
analyses of statistical data. The article is informative in ways that people can manage
and care for themselves from a subjective point of view.
6. Shaw, J. (2007). Epidemiology of childhood type 2 diabetes and obesity. Pediatric
Diabetes,8(9), 7-15
This article statistically explores how type 2 diabetes is affecting the young adult
population, as well as adolescents and children. Ethnic groups are at higher risk for
contracting the disease, and how the risk factors for type 2 diabetes in children and
adolescents are similar to those in adults. The article also discusses how in utero exposure
to hyperglycemia is another risk factor in developing diabetes, and how better
management of diabetes during pregnancy could reduce the risk of offspring developing
the disease.
This article is cohesive in my argument that it is the adults responsibility to take care of
themselves in order to prevent the disease in developing in their children. If the
management of diabetes and prevention of gestational diabetes reduces the chance of
type 2 diabetes developing in children, then it is before birth that the adult must take care
of themselves in order to take care of their child. Obesity during pregnancy is also a risk
factor of offspring developing diabetes, so the healthier the mother during pregnancy, the
healthier the child may be throughout their life.
This is another credible source for research because it is a scholarly article on the
epidemiology of type 2 diabetes that has been peer reviewed by experts. The article is on
a statistical and fact based standpoint, so there are no biases. The article provides its
sources, as well as evidence to support its claims throughout the entirety of the article.
7. Taylor, J., Cottrell, C., Chatterton, H., Hill, J., Hughes, R., Wohlgemuth, C., & Holt, R. I.
(2012). Identifying risk and preventing progression to Type 2 diabetes in vulnerable and
disadvantaged adults: a pragmatic review. Diabetic Medicine, 16-25.
This study aimed to identify proper and effective approaches in an attempt to recognize
diabetes risk and prevent progression to type 2 diabetes in vulnerable adults. The study
used UK-based interventions to diagnose diabetes at-risk and targets with known risk
factors through submissions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence
(NICE), email questionnaires, and selected electronic databases. The study resulted in
raising awareness of diabetes risk factors, and provided preventative interventions that
focused on subjects lifestyle changes. The study culminated with results showing that it
is possible to successfully engage high-risk adults to achieve positive health outcomes
that were relative to preventing diabetes.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence is a government association
based in the UK. It provides proof that government intervention can help in controlling
the growth of the diabetes epidemic through teaching and helping at-risk adults and
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children implement lifestyle changes. I believe through a combination of government
awareness and personal responsibility, we can reduce the number of people that are being
diagnosed with the disease.
This source is credible because it came from a medical journal focused on diabetes. The
article was peer reviewed and is a scholarly article. The article provides statistical
evidence to support their claims, and has a thorough analysis of their data. The article
used government organizations to conduct their study that contributes to their credibility.