America's children fatter than ever. No chance of cats slimming down then?

We been told over and over again that America's domestic cats are overweight. There is a pet obesity epidemic we are told by the country's veterinarians. One reason, perhaps the overriding reason, is that people are losing their perception of what is a normal weight. If people think fat is normal then their pets will be fat. And today, The Times, tells us that America's children are fatter than ever. I take from that sad information that there is little chance that domestic cats will be slimming down in the future because America's next generation are going to be fatter than the previous.

Obese and diabetic tabby cat. Photo: Pixabay.

It isn't just America, although it's the worst, which is suffering from an obesity epidemic. The report says that American children eat more junk food, are fatter and suffer more from diabetes than they did 20 years ago. The prevalence of type II diabetes in the age range 10-19 rose by 95% between 2001-2017. Cases of type I diabetes increased by 45%.

The study was funded by the CDC and the National Institutes of Health. In a second study it's been found that 33% of paediatric patients are above the expected weight for a child of their age.

At present, 10% of Americans, which is 34 million people, have a confirmed diagnosis of diabetes. Diabetes is a serious illness but unfortunately a lot of people believe that they can manage it so well that it is hardly any illness at all. However, if left untreated it causes heart, liver and kidney disease, and damage to nerves and blood vessels which can result in blindness and limb amputations.

Diabetes is preventable by losing weight and adopting a healthy diet. It is believed that the situation in America is so critical that an expert panel has advised that anyone older than 25 years of age who is overweight should be screened for type II diabetes.

There is an epidemic of diabetes and pre-diabetes by obesity in America and the same applies to their companion cats which is distressing for both creatures but, for me, particularly the cats because they are the innocent victims of wayward human behaviour.