By: Dahlia Baerga

Diabetes is one of those conditions that people talk about quite often, but don’t really know what it’s about. However, it is a condition that disproportionately affects people of color. Why?

What is Diabetes?

Diabetes is a condition that affects how we create energy from food. The body breaks down food into sugar and releases it into the bloodstream. Your pancreas picks up on your increased blood sugar and releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin breaks down the sugar and helps create energy for the cells.

When someone has diabetes, the body either isn’t making enough insulin to help convert sugar into energy, or it can’t work very well. Either way, insulin issues lead to blood sugar staying in your bloodstream, which can lead to many health problems, including kidney disease.

There are two types of diabetes – type 1 and type 2. Both deal with insulin production, but they differ in key ways. Type 1 diabetes is a genetic condition that develops early on in life. With type 1 diabetes, the body doesn’t make insulin. In contrast, type 2 diabetes develops with leading an unhealthy lifestyle and happens later on in life. With type 2 diabetes, the body doesn’t stop producing insulin, but it doesn’t make as much of it.

What Communities Does Diabetes Affect?

In all honesty, diabetes affects everyone. No race or ethnicity is immune from diabetes. However, there are some communities that are more disproportionally affected than others.

When it comes to diabetes prevalence, the community affected the most isn’t the Black community, even though it is a very common belief. In 2015, the community affected by diabetes the most is the American Indian/Alaskan Native community, with 15.3% of females and 14.9% of males living with the condition. (While the numbers have changed, the community hasn’t – in 2019, the AI/AN community still had the highest prevalence of diabetes.)

The Black, Hispanic, and Asian communities are next respectively, and the white community has the lowest prevalence – 8.1% of men and 6.8% of women.

Fun fact – the country with the highest prevalence of diabetes is China, not America.

Why Does Diabetes Affect Communities of Color More?

There are many reasons why communities of color are affected more by diabetes. Some of it is genetic. Other factors can include obesity and lack of exercise. However, research shows other factors that can affect who is and who isn’t at risk with diabetes.

Medical News Today shared the results of this research, indicating that “where a person lives and their access to certain resources” can affect who is diagnosed. “Socioeconomic status, systemic racism, and culture” can also affect the high diagnosis rate in people of color. These communities live in food deserts and have a lack of medical access, making it much harder to get the help needed to avoid developing diabetes.

It doesn’t help that people keep cultural norms that are harmful. As people of color adapted the American diet, their own food took a backseat. Unfortunately for them, changing that diet and eating more American based food (think highly processed food and fatty meats) puts them at a greater risk for diabetes. That doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface, with socioeconomic status and racism also playing large parts in the high prevalence of diabetes.

How Can We Fix This?

There is no easy fix for diabetes – there is no cure. There are, however, many ways that people can minimize their risk for developing the condition.

Eating right and exercising are two things people can do to lessen their risk of being diagnosed. Going for yearly check-ups, having outlets for stress, and getting a healthy amount of sleep can also help mitigate the development of diabetes. Finally, people can get more involved and find ways to tackle many of these issues and make getting access to resources easier for these communities.

While a cure is still being sought, there’s a lot everyone can do to make sure that diabetes becomes a less serious problem for people of color.