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OVERVIEW
Kaufman explains the severity of the obesity/diabetes epidemic this way: "our ancient genes and our modern environment have collided," and so many adults and children are now being diagnosed with the disease that it "imperils human existence as we now know it."
The author, who recently served as president of the American Diabetes Association and was instrumental in banning the sale of soda in Los Angeles schools, notes that the sharp increase in the number of diabetics in the U.S. mirrors the increased incidence of obesity (hence the word "diabesity," first used by health journalists in the late 1990s).
Her first-rate, important book discusses the diagnosis of diabetes and its subsequent sequelae, the world history of both diabetes and obesity, and, most importantly, what must be done to fix the problem.
Not so much a how-to for patients as a call to arms for policy makers and those in the health-care industry, the book intersperses riveting case studies that serve to accentuate the importance of "creating a new normal" mode of behavior in American culture—one that includes eating intelligently and exercising diligently.
Kaufman has taken on a difficult topic, but her text is easy to understand and will be useful to many.
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