This is why many subscribers to Diabetes Update might well be interested in Diabetes-Free Kids: A Take-Charge Plan for Preventing and Treating Type Diabetes in Children. Just 20 years ago type 2 diabetes was virtually unheard of in children. Now at least 35 percent of children with diabetes have type 2. Those comparative numbers alone are enough to show parents that they can help their kids from facing the disease that us adults with diabetes have.

The authors of this book are two people eminently suited to the task. Sheri Colberg-Ochs is an associate professor of exercise science at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, and the author of The Diabetic Athlete. She has type 1 diabetes, and because of her expertise I recently interviewed her for a forthcoming magazine article about people with diabetes using calorie counting devices. Co-author Mary Friesz is a nutritionist, a Registered Dietitian, and a Certified Diabetes Educator who specializes in working with children.

They give us a sound and sensible plan for preventing or controlling type 2 diabetes among your children. I was especially impressed with their wisdom about obesity, which plagues most children and adults who have type 2. They point out that excess body fat is appropriately considered a symptom of insulin resistance (and diabetes) rather than the cause. And�they say that you can improve your control of diabetes without weight loss.

What really works for diabetes control, they show, includes a more active lifestyle and choosing foods for better glycemic control. Using the glycemic index and limiting the glycemic load are key. And there is a lot more excellent advice here that makes this book invaluable for anyone who has or plans to have children.

Avery, a member of Penguin Group, published Diabetes-Free Kids for $14.95 in June 2005. The ISBN of this 218-page trade soft cover book is 1-58333-221-9.

[As of 06Sep2005, this book is available at Amazon for $10.17.]