Health Commission: Obesity, diabetes are top priorities

The U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission has announced that obesity and diabetes are its top priorities for 2009-2010.

"Approximately 1.5 million adults in the border region are overweight or obese and another 1.2 million have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes," the BHC wrote in a paper titled "Childhood Obesity and the U.S.-Mexico Border." The paper, made public Monday, was the result of the U.S.-Mexico Border Child and Adolescent Health Forum held in El Paso earlier this year.

Childhood obesity is now known to lead to Type 2 diabetes, and an increasing number of children are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Diabetes can result in heart disease, strokes, blindness, kidney disease, dental disease, hypertension, and pregnancy complications, according to the BHC.

About 40.9 percent of Hispanic children between 10 and 17 years old are obese in the United States, according to the BHC. But in Texas this number is even higher, at 46.8 percent.

The BHC said that approaches to diabetes and obesity prevention must be tailored to fit the needs of the border region.

"With the daily migration and general sociocultural parameters of the border region, it cannot be assumed that interventions tested outside the border will necessarily have a similar impact in the border region," the report says. "Evidence-based programs that are tailored to the unique aspect of the border are needed to reduce the number of obese children."

The BHC will continue to explore obesity and diabetes during Border Binational Health Week in October.