As scientists around the world continue their pursuit of knowledge of the human body and how it works, the evidence supporting the connection between poor diet and disease continues to mount.
One new area of research that’s sounding an ominous alarm is the increasing occurrence of “age-onset” diseases of the elderly occurring more and more in the young. The fact is that disease conditions that used to be exclusive to the elderly are now being discovered for the first time in children.
This trend has health experts across the globe calling for immediate action to correct the dietary disasters known to be the cause. The most recent discovery that has the global medical community abuzz is the increasing diagnosis in children of Metabolic Syndrome, a cluster of symptoms that point to increased risk of cardiovascular disease, including obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood glucose and LDL cholesterol, and low HDL cholesterol.
Writing in the December 2006 edition of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers state, “Unfortunately, as the population becomes less active and more obese, we’re seeing a rise in this constellation of risk factors for cardiovascular disease.” It is currently estimated that as much as 25% of the adult population suffers from Metabolic Syndrome. The fact that it is occurring at all in children is an indication that something is very wrong. The problem, according to this research, is too little activity coupled with poor diet.
The solution therefore is to not only get ourselves but our children active and take control of our weight by reducing the fat content and “glycemic load” in our diets. Avoid fast, processed, calorie dense foods and eat a healthy diet – one that includes whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and fish and in order to ensure the daily abundance of vital nutrients without all the calories, we must look to whole food-derived supplementation.
