- What’s insulin? Insulin is the natural hormone produced in the pancreas that regulates the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
- There are 3 main types of diabetes:
- In Type 1 diabetes, the body’s defense system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. People with Type 1 produce little or no insulin.
- In Type 2 diabetes consists of insulin resistance and/or relative insulin deficiency. This type is often associated with obesity.
- Gestational diabetes is a more rare condition that occurs when pregnant women have high blood glucose levels.
- Type 1 diabetes patients need insulin shots (often in the form of a pump or “pod”) to live.
- Children and young adults are at the highest risk of Type 1 diabetes.
- 90 percent of people with diabetes have Type 2.
- Up to 45 percent of children with newly diagnosed diabetes have Type 2 diabetes and most are overweight or obese at diagnosis. This means that Type 2 is not only treatable, but preventable, with proper diet and exercise.
- In some countries (like Japan), Type 2 diabetes has become the most common form of the disease in children.
- In native and aboriginal communities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, at least one in 100 youth have diabetes. In some communities, it is one in every 25.
- Diabetes is even more tragic for the poor without access to proper treatment. In Zambia, a child with Type 1 diabetes can expect to live an average of 11 years. In Mali, the same child can expect to live only 30 months (a little over 2 years old). And in Mozambique, that child is likely to die within a year of birth.
- Insulin was discovered more than 85 years ago and is a proven method managing diabetes. Unfortunately, children in many parts of the world still die because this essential drug is not available to them.
- Children with diabetes must monitor their blood sugar regularly to help control their diabetes.
Encourage healthier diets by changing lunch options at your school. GO [1]
Sources: IDF [2], World Health Org [3], FDA [4], Diabetes [5],