Laredo to Study Obesity, Diabetes in Elementary School Children

LAREDO (Elizabeth White, AP) October 1, 2006 — The city of Laredo may hold the key to stemming an alarming increase in obesity and Type 2 diabetes among school age children across the United States.

A three-year, 38-school study launched Thursday is intended to focus on controlling the risk factors for diabetes, particularly among Hispanic children who are at greater risk of getting the disease.

The city is home to the highest obesity rate among Hispanic children in the U.S. Investigators hope a $5 million grant will help them discover how best to reduce the rate in Laredo and, eventually, elsewhere.

“Proyecto Bienestar Laredo” will follow 3,400 children at Laredo elementary schools from third through fifth grades.

Half the children will be in a control group getting only the normal health curriculum offered by their school. A second group of children will participate in a nutrition and fitness education program aimed at lowering blood glucose levels and boosting fitness and fiber intake levels. Cafeteria staff also will receive nutritional training.

It is the largest study of diabetes and obesity prevention among elementary school children, said David Saldana, a spokesman for the Social & Health Research Center in San Antonio.

“We don’t want to see a child with Type 2 Diabetes,” said Dr. Roberto Trevino, the center’s executive director.

But risk factors for the most common type of diabetes, often referred to as adult-onset diabetes, are increasingly showing up in children, said Dr. Hector Gonzalez, director of the city of Laredo Health Department.

“Overeating, being obese, not exercising ... ,” he said. “By attacking obesity then we’re reducing a very important risk factor.”

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio also is involved in the study, which is being paid for with a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Saldana said 42 percent of Hispanic children ages 6 to 11 in Laredo are obese. According to 2000 statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, Laredo is more than 94 percent Hispanic.

Gonzalez said he expects students in the control group will have a higher rate of pre-diabetic indicators, based on the findings of a pilot study of 400 students in Laredo last year.

Baseline blood sugar levels, weight, height, waist circumference and body-mass indexes will be recorded for each student participating in the current study and will be updated regularly.

Nora Guerra, chief of public health and nutrition for the Laredo Health Department, said she has already seen this week at least a couple students who are pre-diabetic. She said in the past she’s seen children as young as 8 with the condition.

Type 2 diabetes can lead to blindness, kidney failure, amputations and death if left untreated.

Mexican Americans are genetically predisposed to the disease, Gonzalez said. Healthier eating habits can be undermined by the American mentality of bigger is better and the convenience and cost-savings offered by fast foods, he said.

“We’re in a fast paced society. So instead of walking, we want to park the car almost in front of the door,” he said.