Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Pathways to obesity and diabetes.
- Figure 2.
Model output for 3 intervention scenarios compared with the baseline scenario for diabetes prevalence (a) and complication-related deaths (b).
From: Jones AP, Homer JB, Murphy DL, Essien JD, Milstein B, Seville DA. Understanding diabetes population dynamics through simulation modeling and experimentation. Am J Public Health. 2006;96(3):488–494 . Reprinted with permission from the American Public Health Association.
Additional Files
The Article in Brief
Obesity and Diabetes in Vulnerable Populations: Reflection on Proximal and Distal Causes
Lucy M. Candib, MD
Background Rates of obesity and diabetes are climbing to epidemic proportions around the world and across a variety of communities. Explanations that are limited to lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, are inadequate. This article looks at the many complex factors that contribute to obesity and diabetes.
What This Study Found Factors that contribute to the obesity/diabetes epidemic range from the genetic, cellular, biologic, and psychosocial levels to the social, historical, economic, and political. A broader view of obesity and diabetes that takes these multiple factors into account could lead to public health efforts that draw on the energy of a variety of forces.
Implications
- To prevent and treat obesity and diabetes in vulnerable populations, clinicians and researchers need to work at multiple levels, including community collaborations.
Correction
There is no group called the Diabetes Prevention Project at the CDC. Clinicians may gain insight about the complexities of diabetes from the Diabetes Prevention Program (mostly completed, an intervention trial run jointly between the CDC and NIH), and from the contributions of the Syndemics Prevention Network. I regret the mistake and any confusion it may have caused. Lucy M. Candib, MD
