Fighting Obesity and Diabetes in a Special Needs Population at the Indiana Women's Prison
Author: Richard R. Tanner, M. D..
Source: Volume 04, Number 02, January/February 2003 , pp.17-20(4)
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Abstract:
According to the Surgeon General, David Satcher, M.D., there is an epidemic of obesity in the United States. It has also been estimated that diabetes is 2 to 4 times more common in schizophrenics than in the general population. Obesity and diabetes are both common problems in our Special Needs Offenders at the Indiana Women’s Prison (IWP).At the Indiana Women’s Prison, we house our Special Needs Offenders in the Special Needs Unit (SNU). This unit contains offenders with schizophrenia, mental retardation, and other significant psychiatric problems. By use of electronic medical record review over the past 3 years, it was noted that the offenders on the SNU had a high incidence of being overweight on admission to the Department of Correction and gaining more weight while living on the SNU. These offenders also had high incidence of diabetes or developing new diabetes while on the SNU.Keywords: HgA1C, The Body Mass Index (BMI), Type I, Type II, blood sugar
Affiliations:
1: Indiana Women's Prison.