In light of American Diabetes Association (ADA) estimates that 6 million US consumers have diabetes and not know it, a new campaign has been launched to heighten awareness of the disease amongst Latino Americans.
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The Association is releasing the Spanish version of its “Mr. Food’s Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking”. TV personality Mr Food, Art Ginsburg, has a daily 90-second news insert on CBS/King World to demonstrate quick and easy meal solutions. He is working with Miss America 1999, Nicole Johnson, who is diabetic.
Currently, over 17 million Americans live with diabetes and another 2,200 are diagnosed every day. The disease is the fifth leading cause of death in the US, and it is a major contributor to blindness, kidney disease and heart disease.
ADA said that Hispanics have twice the risk of contracting type 2 diabetes than those in the general non-Hispanic population, and spreading awareness to such high-risk groups is vital. According to the ADA, about 26% of Puerto Ricans, 24% of Mexican Americans and 16% of Cuban Americans, aged 45-74 and living in the US, have diabetes.
“Understanding who is at greatest risk, diagnosing the problem early, and making changes to your diet can make all the difference between controlling the disease and having it control you,” says Francine Kaufman, MD, ADA president.
