Diabetes doesn’t have a ribbon, color or month. But don’t be fooled: diabetes is a women’s health issue. Diabetes affects girls who have type 1 diabetes. Growing numbers of teens and young women develop type 2 diabetes, often because they are overweight or obese. Diabetes affects pregnant women who already have diabetes and are at an increased risk to have babies born with birth defects or who are stillborn.
It affects women who develop diabetes for the first time during their pregnancies (gestational diabetes) and who are at risk to have larger babies and complicated labors and births. It affects the babies born to women with any form of diabetes, as the babies are more at risk to develop diabetes later in their lives.
Diabetes affects women in middle and older age by tripling their risk for strokes and heart attacks and, in advanced stages of the disease, robbing them of their eyesight and limbs. It affects more than 9 million women in the U.S. and it’s estimated that 3 million women don’t even know they have it.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently predicted that by 2050 the current rate of 1 in 10 Americans with diabetes may double or triple. Consider what this could means in terms of human suffering and healthcare costs if 1 in 3 Americans has diabetes. The CDC’s prediction is based on several factors: large segments of the population are aging, diabetics are living longer, and most strikingly, an ever-increasing number of Americans are overweight and obese.
The good news is that losing weight can delay or prevent diabetes. Studies have shown that even a 5%-7% weight loss plus getting 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week can cut the risk of getting diabetes by more than half. This is a wake-up call for all of us, especially if we’re at risk for diabetes. Risk factors include:
As a woman, you have a role to play in whether you or your family members develop diabetes. You likely buy and prepare your family’s meals and manage your family’s health. Are you overweight? Are your children overweight? Are you caring for aging family members who may have diabetes?
But there’s hope. In these caregiving roles, you’re most likely to understand and act against the toll diabetes can take by cooking and serving healthy meals and encouraging physical activity to prevent, delay or live longer with diabetes.
So tell your family and friends. Make diabetes prevention important at your school and workplace. Take small steps now so that you, your family and friends don’t become the faces of diabetes in 2050. What will you do today to prevent diabetes?
Hey mom! Whether you cook healthy meals and get your family out exercising affects your family's chances of being diagnosed with diabetes.
