USC endocrinologist Francine R. Kaufman is not just wringing her hands over the nation’s mounting problems with obesity and diabetes—she is on a mission to stop the epidemic.

Kaufman, professor of pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine and past president of the American Diabetes Association, has long spoken about diabetes as a public health threat, particularly among children, who are increasingly being diagnosed with the disease. But now she has employed the power of the pen in her battle to raise awareness and change public policy.

Her lay-friendly book, Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic that Threatens America—and What We Must Do to Stop It (Bantam Books, $27) hit booksellers’ shelves on March 1. In it, Kaufman draws heavily on her experiences as head of the division of endocrinology and metabolism at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and director of its Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.

The book begins with the harrowing tale of a nine-month-old baby rushed to Childrens Hospital in a diabetic coma. Kaufman’s first-person account quickly brings readers onto the front lines of her war against the disease.

Throughout, Kaufman introduces readers to patients with diabetes and their families. Each child, parent and sibling illustrates a unique problem: diabetes’ gradual symptoms, which may go unnoticed until tragedy strikes; the difficulty faced by children who must monitor their blood sugar during school time; and the challenges faced by urban children who have nowhere to play, just to name a few.

But Kaufman also brings readers into her own life. Her grandmother Sadie was diagnosed with diabetes in 1960, when Kaufman was 9 years old. A fan of cakes and sweets, Sadie resisted the lifestyle changes so important to controlling diabetes—and Kaufman saw the consequences in her grandma’s worsening health.

Kaufman also relates how she became the “Betty Crocker of diabetes.” When she saw her patients’ blood sugar levels careen dangerously from high to low, she strove to create a way for patients to stabilize their blood sugar between meals. She found that raw cornstarch, when ingested, seemed to steadily provide patients with glucose—so she took to the kitchen to figure out how to incorporate the starch into foods. The result was the ExtendBar, a now readily available healthy snack that may combat diabesity.

The anecdotes provide insight into the personal cost of diabetes, but Kaufman also ties the personal stories into a social web.

“This disease ranks number one in direct costs, consuming one health-care dollar of every seven,” according to the book. “In the U.S. in 2002, the tab for diabetes-related doctor visits, medications and hospitalizations was a staggering $92 billion.”

And numbers might continue to rise if society does not change, she said.

According to Kaufman, Americans have erred by defining progress in terms of the quantity, rather than the quality, of food procured and produced. She also talks about the urban sprawl that encourages people to drive rather than walk, and to stay on the couch rather than actively participate in their communities.

Kaufman calls for changes in public policy to reverse the slide toward inactivity and poor dietary habits.

“We don’t have to be the creators of our own demise,” she said. “We have the opportunity to demand of our leaders, of our health-care system, of our communities and of ourselves that the world become a place in which it is possible to live not just a long life, but a healthy one—a world in which we can have normal blood sugar, normal blood pressure, normal blood fats, normal weight, healthy meals and a safe walk through the park.”