A lecture scheduled for next week will explore the strong link between diabetes and obesity.

The Obici Healthcare Foundation will host a lecture on “diabesity” March 11 at 1 p.m. at the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts. The lecture is open to the public.

“Western Tidewater has the largest mortality rate from diabetes in Virginia,” said Rick Spencer, senior program officer for the Obici Healthcare Foundation. “This is something that is a very important focus for the foundation.”

“Diabesity” is a term coined to refer to the link between Type 2 diabetes and obesity, Spencer said.

The lecture will be lead by Dr. Francine Kaufman, head of the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Center for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism.

The speech will be based on Kaufman’s research and her book “Diabesity: The Obesity-Diabetes Epidemic that Threatens America — And What We Must Do to Stop It.”

During the presentation, Kaufman will discuss the causes of diabesity, solutions and suggestions to improve the health of people who get diabetes. She will focus in particular on how the disease affects children, Spencer said.

Type 2 diabetes used to be called “adult-onset diabetes,” but with more children being inactive and eating an unhealthy diet, more and more children are getting the disease, he said.

Spencer said that anyone can benefit from the lecture.

“Many friends and families are touched by the disease,” he said. “It is helpful for everyone to have their awareness raised.”

This speech will help to prepare family and friends to treat and prevent the disease.

The lecture is part of a forum that the foundation is hosting to increase awareness of the diabetes and obesity epidemics and the link between the two.

Other portions of the forum required registration and a suggested donation, but the lecture is being offered to anyone in the community who would like to attend.