BOSTON, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Latinos who worry about having enough food to eat – so-called food insecurity – report having a poorer diet and exhibit worse glycemic control than those who aren’t worried about having sufficient food to survive, according to a study presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 75^th Scientific Sessions. The findings suggest that food insecurity should be a factor considered in overall diabetes management.

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Approximately 24 percent of Latino households in the U.S. were food insecure in 2013, compared to 14 percent for Americans overall, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A 2012 study published in the journal Diabetes Spectrum found that diabetes risk was roughly 2.5 percent higher in households reporting food insecurity.

Researchers at the Emory School of Medicine/Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia decided to explore the impact of food insecurity on diabetes management after hearing from patients that they could not afford to buy healthy foods, such as fresh vegetables. To measure food insecurity, they asked whether patients had been worried about having enough food to eat at any point in the past 30 days. They also developed a tool based on the plate method to assess the amount of vegetables patients were eating during their main meal each day (full plate, one-half, one-third of a plate, one-fourth of a plate, or no vegetables). Lastly, the Emory research team also measured and analyzed differences in A1C (a three-month measure of glycemic control) of the food insecure and food secure patients.

“We found that those patients who were food insecure had higher A1C levels and ate fewer vegetables,” said Britt Rotberg, MS, RDN, LD, CDE, BC-ADM, Assistant Director of the Emory Diabetes Education Training Academy, Emory Latino Diabetes Education Program at the Emory School of Medicine. “These findings underscore the importance of individualized diabetes management, and the need to take into account not only patients’ socioeconomic status, but food availability, when discussing diabetes self-management. We should find new ways to help our food insecure patients obtain nutritionally adequate foods.”

The study found that those who were food insecure had average A1C levels of 9.9 percent, compared to 7.6 percent for those who were food secure. It also showed that those who were food insecure ate fewer vegetables than those who were food secure. When looking at patients who consumed more than one-third of a plate of non-starchy vegetables at their main meal, 62 percent were food secure compared to 38 percent who were food insecure.

Rotberg said there was no significant difference in body mass index (BMI) between the two groups, suggesting that “both groups may consume comparable calories per the individuals’ requirements, but with a difference in nutrient density potentially determining the difference in glycemic control.”

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight to Stop Diabetes^® and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. For the past 75 years, our mission has been to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) or visit diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

BOSTON, June 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The evidence is clear that the children of obese parents are prone to obesity themselves, placing them at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, but how and why this occurs remains under investigation. A study being presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 75^th Scientific Sessions found evidence suggesting that the in utero environment in obese mothers may program a child’s cells to accumulate extra fat or develop differences in metabolism that could lead to insulin resistance.

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“One of the questions that needs to be explored is how children of obese mothers may be at risk for becoming obese as a result of factors that occur even before they are born,” said Kristen E. Boyle, PhD, assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “Our study looked at the mechanism by which children may be preprogrammed for increased obesity risk, because of changes occurring in utero.”

Boyle and her team took stem cells from donated umbilical cords of the babies of normal-weight and obese mothers and grew them into fat and muscle cells in the lab. They found 30 percent higher fat content in both types of cells in the offspring of mothers who were obese at their first prenatal visit, compared to the cells of offspring of normal-weight moms. They are continuing to evaluate the data to determine if these cells likewise show evidence of altered metabolism.

“At this point, because this is fairly preliminary, we don’t know how these differences in cells grown in the lab correspond to the physiology of these children after birth,” Boyle said. “But it’s clear that there is an inherent propensity toward more fat content in the cells from offspring of obese moms, in culture. We also know that the fat accumulation in these cells corresponded to the baby’s fat mass at birth. The next step is to follow these offspring to see if there is a lasting change into adulthood.”

Boyle and her team expect to soon have additional information on how the cells use fat for energy production and whether this contributes to the greater fat accumulation in the cells from the offspring of obese mothers. They are continuing to conduct a full, metabolic assessment of the cells to determine whether the cells in the offspring of obese moms display inflammation, insulin resistance or other metabolic differences.

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight to Stop Diabetes^® and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. For the past 75 years, our mission has been to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) or visit diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.