According to the NIH, nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes, and at least 54 million people over age 20 have pre-diabetes.  You can find out what your risk for diabetes here.

What is diabetes? This is from the National Institutes of Health,

 Diabetes (diabetes mellitus): a condition characterized by hyperglycemia resulting from the body's inability to use blood glucose for energy. In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas no longer makes insulin and therefore blood glucose cannot enter the cells to be used for energy. In type 2 diabetes, either the pancreas does not make enough insulin or the body is unable to use insulin correctly.

 pre-diabetes: a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but are not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with pre-diabetes are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and for heart disease and stroke. Other names for pre-diabetes are impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose.

 type 1 diabetes: a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by a total lack of insulin. Occurs when the body's immune system attacks the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas and destroys them. The pancreas then produces little or no insulin. Type 1 diabetes develops most often in young people but can appear in adults.

 type 2 diabetes: a condition characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by either a lack of insulin or the body's inability to use insulin efficiently. Type 2 diabetes develops most often in middle-aged and older adults but can appear in young people.

It's here. The report by the Kaiser Family Foundation staff on TV food advertising to children.  Do you have an opinion? Please vote in the poll that is on the site.   You can also watch the video of the presentation here.  Or you can read the full report here.

New Study Finds That Food Is the Top Product Seen Advertised by Children - Among All Children, Tweens See the Most Food Ads at More Than 20 a Day

34% of All Food Ads Targeting Children or Teens Are for Candy and Snacks

Half of All Ads Shown During Children's Shows Are for Food

WASHINGTON, March 28 / -- As the fight against childhood obesity escalates, the issue of food advertising to children has come under increasing scrutiny. Policymakers in Congress, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and agencies such as the Institute of Medicine (IOM) have called for changes in the advertising landscape, and U.S. food and media industries are developing their own voluntary initiatives related to advertising food to children. To help inform this debate, the Kaiser Family Foundation today released the largest study ever conducted of TV food advertising to children.

I’m working on a story about the recent New York City menu labeling law. It’s pretty interesting what they’ve done. The Department of Health passed a law that in July all New York City restaurants that as of March 1^st ALREADY have caloric information available to the public will be required to post this information on their menu boards, or menus.  The law, which is great in spirit, is kind of built on strange logic. The law ONLY applies to restaurants that are already providing this information on web sites, and or brochures. Didn’t they think that this would cause some of the chains to simply remove their information from the NY area so they didn’t have to change their menu boards?

Take a look at Wendy's solution. You’re not going to believe this--Wendy’s took the calorie information off their menus in NYC. They took the calories from their posted menu board. This photo was taken from a wall mounted poster in a NYC unit. See the calorie column (the first one) is missing. Shame on Wendy's!

I get a daily report on research reported in the major journals. I look at the study design, the information being reported and the funding source--always keeping in mind that it's only one study that's reporting the information. The following is from the American Chemical Society, and discusses a journal article where the researchers found a method to enhance the antioxidants in pizza. It seems that scientists are working to create healthier pizza by boosting antioxidants in dough. Read on.