Diabetes epidemic looms along border
October 27, 2005

More children are overweight, especially minorities, experts say

Written by Tracey Eaton, Dallas Morning News

RIO GRANDE CITY, Texas – "Why me?" asked Miriam Cantu when the doctor relayed the news that she has diabetes and will have to check her blood sugar twice a day for the rest of her life.

"Poking needles into myself is no way to live."

Miriam is 12 years old. Her mother, Oralia Cantu, 50, has lived with the disease for nearly three decades.

Mother and daughter are a microcosm of a health problem in this largely Hispanic border town of 13,000 people – and among the Latino population in general.

Half the boys and more than a third of the girls in Rio Grande City are overweight by the time they reach the seventh grade.

And increasing numbers of them are developing diabetes and its deadly complications, health officials say.

"Stand on any street corner in Rio Grande City," said Enrique Griego, a doctor who operates three clinics on the border. "One of every three people you see is overweight or obese. To me, they are future diabetics."

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