eaters, most likely due to the abundance of healthful foods and avoidance of meat throughout their lives.8 Diabetes Although it is almost entirely preventable, type 2 diabetes is one of the most prevalent and costly chronic diseases in the United States. Without a change in eating and exercise habits, one in three children born in the year 2000 will develop type 2 diabetes in adulthood. For Hispanic children, one in two will develop this disease.9 Heart Disease In 2010, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 20 percent of adolescents ages 12-19 have at least one abnormal lipid level: LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, or triglycerides. Among overweight and obese adolescents, those rates were even higher, with 22 percent of overweight and 43 percent of obese children having one or more abnormalities.10 Abnormal lipids are risk factors for heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in the United States.11