American Diabetes Association Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month

The American Diabetes Association (Association) is kicking off a celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month by calling on people with type 2 diabetes to increase their physical activity and eat healthier to Stop Diabetes.  From Sept. 15 through Oct. 15, the Association will conduct activities and highlight resources across the country that showcase the benefits of being active and eating healthy to manage their diabetes and reduce their risk of developing diabetes complications.

Nearly 30 million adults and children are living with diabetes in the U.S. (in 2010 the figures were 25.8 million). Of all Hispanics living in the U.S, 12.8 percent of them have diagnosed diabetes compared to 7.6 percent of non-Hispanic Caucasians. Within the Hispanic adult population, 8.5 percent of Central and South Americans, 9.3 percent of Cubans, 13.9 percent of Mexican Americans and 14.8 percent of Puerto Ricans have diabetes.

Without proper diabetes management, people have a higher risk of developing very serious complications such as:  hypoglycemia, hypertension, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease, heart attack and stroke, blindness and eye problems, kidney disease, and amputations. In addition, studies show that people with diabetes have a greater risk of depression than people without diabetes.

“Diabetes is an urgent health problem in the Hispanic community, with 12.8 percent of the Hispanic population living with diagnosed diabetes in the U.S.,” said Jane Chiang, MD, Senior Vice President, Medical and Community Affairs, American Diabetes Association. “The American Diabetes Association believes that getting information to the Latino/Hispanic community about the seriousness of diabetes and providing resources to help manage the disease is essential. During Hispanic Heritage Month, we hope these activities and resources will contribute to people leading healthier lives by becoming more physically active, eating healthier and keeping a healthy weight.”

As part of the activities, the Association in collaboration with the Hispanic Latino Stakeholder Group of the National Diabetes Education Program, Familias con Diabetes and EsTuDiabetes.org, is going to conduct on October 15th at 1:30 p.m. EST a Spanish-language video chat to discuss the topic of diabetes and mental health. The video chat is open and free to the public. More details about the video chat will be available on our Facebook pages in English facebook.com/AmericanDiabetesAssociation and Spanish facebook.com/AsocAmericanaDiabetes and on Twitter @AmDiabetesAssn and @AmerDiabetesESP.

Also, the Association is inviting people to become engaged during Hispanic Heritage Month by visiting the Association’s web pages in English www.diabetes.org/hhm and Spanish www.diabetes.org/mh and our blog www.diabetesstopshere.org and www.nomasdiabetes.org.

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight to Stop Diabetes and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. Founded in 1940, our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.