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December 22, 2003

Weight and Weight Loss

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Question from Aransas Pass, Texas, USA:

I am 13 years old, half Hispanic, half white. My weight is over 160 pounds. I am 5′ tall. My Hispanic mother, grandmother, aunts and uncles all have diabetes. My family tells me that I am in a high risk group, so does my doctor, and that I need to lose weight and start eating healthy. I have a hard time disciplining myself to do this. Actually, I don’t want to. What do you think my chances of getting diabetes is and what help or advice can you offer?

Answer:

From: DTeam Staff

Your Body Mass Index (BMI) is 31.3 kg/m.sq which is a long way above the upper limit of normal for your age even though you, strictly speaking, still fall in the category of overweight rather than obese. You are in fact very nearly 50 pounds over your ideal weight.

In view of your family history, you have a very high chance of developing Type 2 Diabetes in the coming years. It is not possible to predict this with any accuracy because it depends first of all on your own determination to lose weight and take more exercise and secondly on the speed with which medical researchers can develop ways of modifying appetite as a result of our recently greatly expanded understanding of the hormones that control this. An example of this is the recent study in England of the use of P-YY3-36 which achieved some success. Unfortunately, though it is very easy to give advice as to a remedy, it has always proved exceedingly difficult to carry out and sustain. Nonetheless if you can find a group of compatible young people with the same goals perhaps through ‘Weight Watchers’ you should try your best.

DOB