One in 12 Americans has diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the human and financial costs of this growing epidemic are devastating. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, non-traumatic lower-limb amputation, and kidney failure. In addition, two-thirds of people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular disease or stroke. The rising prevalence of diabetes is fueling increases in healthcare expenditures and insurance premiums, costing $18 billion each year in California alone.  

Rates of diabetes are highest and have risen the most rapidly among people of color and in lower-income communities. In California, 15 percent of Native Americans/ Alaska Natives, 10% of African Americans, and 8 percent of Latinos have diabetes compared to 6% of Caucasians. Diabetes prevalence is 8.4 percent among adults living in lower-income communities compared to 5.8 percent among adults in higher-income communities.

The number of Americans with diabetes increased by 15 percent in two years to 24 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 8 percent of the population now has the disease, mainly Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and sedentary living, the agency said in a report using data from 2007. A quarter of people ages 60 and older had diabetes, the agency said. The number of people worldwide with diabetes will double to 366 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization, which calls the disease an epidemic. Most people with diabetes have resistance to insulin, which the body uses to convert blood sugar to energy. The C.D.C. report was its first update of the prevalence of diabetes since 2005, when it reported that about 21 million Americans had the disease. — New York Times

Healthy eating can reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes, and local food environments influence the options available to individuals and families. A recent study demonstrates that people who live near an abundance of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, compared to grocery stores and fresh produce vendors, have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. To help reduce the prevalence of diabetes, federal, state, and local lawmakers are urged to enact public policies to make healthy foods more readily available.

Bad, unsurprising news of the day: The number of Americans with diabetes rose to 24 million last year, according to new CDC estimates. It’s bad for obvious reasons; it’s unsurprising because the disease disproportionately affects the obese and the elderly, whose numbers are growing.The new figures represent an increase of three million over two years. One small piece of good news: The percentage of diabetics unaware they have the disease fell to 25% from 30% during the period, the CDC said. Awareness is key because good management can reduce diabetes-related risks such as heart attacks and strokes.Huge racial and ethnic disparities persist in diabetes rates. Nearly 12% of black Americans have diabetes, compared with 10.4% of Hispanics and 6.6% of whites. — Wall Street Journal

Linda Gibbs, Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services discusses the importance of access to healthy food, particularly in low-income communities. Check out the full piece in the New York Daily News for information on the efforts of New York City’s Food Policy Task Force.

In spite of our success, we’re still facing a public health crisis - but it stems more from poor nutrition than hunger. For example, obesity and diabetes are on the rise - particularly in low-income communities where access to fresh, healthy foods is limited. These diseases take a serious toll on individuals and families, as well as on our public health system, which is why Mayor Bloomberg has launched a coordinated campaign to improve access to fresh foods and to help New Yorkers understand the strong link between nutrition and overall health.

“Below the Line: The Changing Face of American Poverty”, the provocative series featured on the Tavis Smiley Radio Show, has profiled a vast range of people living at or below the poverty line in the United States. The series has critically examined what it looks like to be poor in America today, by telling stories as varied as the young, African American, single mother of two children who lost her job at Enron only to find herself making less than $10,000 a year as a nursing assistant; a young married couple, graduate student and carpenter, trying their best to sustain a family of five on the land by growing a community garden; and the Ethiopian immigrant working full time at a meat packing plant, and part time as a child care provider in rural Minnesota.

Angela Glover Blackwell frames each installment from a public policy perspective, while respective experts offer insight and strategic solutions for the foreclosure crisis, living wage, inadequate health care, homelessness, transitional housing, and ex-offender re-entry, along with other issues faced by a growing number of Americans.

Now you can catch the entire series right here on EquityBlog:

Episode One
The series begins with Terreal Grant of Baltimore who is coming out of poverty and drug addiction with help from the Thompson Mobility Program [PDF].

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Two
The second installment features Cici Youngblood, a college graduate who describes her path to poverty as “riches to rags” and Jeff Page, a former DJ who went from fame to a downward spiral into homelessness after cancer. Both profiles illustrate how poverty is compounded by health and how successful programs (e.g. Rainbow Apartments) in Los Angeles’s Skid Row community work to meet these challenges.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Three
Reporter James Mills shares the story of Abeba Adella of Minnesota. Originally from Ethiopia, Abeba left an abusive husband, raises two children alone, and works two jobs to barely avoid poverty.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Four
From Augusta, Georgia, reporter Charles Edwards speaks with two residents who struggle with less than the federal minimum wage. Richard Sparrow suffered a back injury and was shunned by employers as an insurance liability. Unemployed since 1996, Richard lives on less than 700 dollars a month, over half of which goes to medicine. Sunny Johnson, a former Enron employee, describes the sacrifices she makes with her wages from her day and night jobs.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Five
New Orleans producer Eve Abrams brings us the story of Vanessa Nevilles, who is struggling to find a job with health insurance, and Keith Carter who was shunned from employment after an arrest and a lengthy legal battle.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Episode Six
Executive Producer Cheryl Flowers visits Mississippi to find two stories of poverty in small rural communities. Mississippi is home to one of the highest concentrations of poverty in America.

[17 minutes | MP3]

Wrap Up
Dr. Cynthia Duncan, Founding Director of the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire and Alan Jenkins, Executive Director of the Opportunity Agenda, joins Tavis Smiley and Angela Glover Blackwell for the series wrap up and analysis.

[53 minutes | MP3]

Audio courtesy of The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI. Check your local listings for more from Tavis Smiley.

Are our food options making us sick? According to a new report released today by PolicyLink, the balance of healthy-versus-unhealthy retail food options in your neighborhood is directly tied to your risk for diabetes and obesity.

The groundbreaking study, Designed for Disease: the Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes, was released jointly with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. It examines the correlation between the health of nearly 40,000 Californians and the mix of retail food outlets near their homes.

The key finding: people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets are at significantly higher risk of suffering from obesity and diabetes.

The findings are the latest in a growing batch of evidence that the obesity epidemic is at a crisis level. As PolicyLink Vice President of Research Victor Rubin said for the release of the new report:

“Clearly the obesity crisis in California can no longer be seen only as a fight over personal choices. Public policies drive the universe of food options from which we can choose. Families who live in communities with choices limited to high-calorie foods and beverages face substantially greater health risks. Policy makers at the state and local level can save lives by giving Californians healthier food options.”

The results lend even more weight to a recent USA Today lead editorial, which argued that the obesity epidemic is literally killing Americans at a younger and younger age — and disproportionately targeting poor Americans.

Everyone knows how to lose weight: exercise more and eat less, fatty foods in particular. But fast food, eaten on the run and in vast quantities, has too often replaced the leisurely sit-down dinners with healthier foods of years past. Further, obesity is increasing worldwide, and among the poor more than the affluent. Broad social changes underlie the trend, and so it will not be easily reversed. But where it is worst, among the poor, better access to preventive health care plainly is part of the answer.

A century ago, poorer Americans were more likely to have their lives shortened by hunger and malnutrition. It would be a tragic irony if the obesity epidemic has a similarly devastating and unequal impact.

The editorial builds off the stunning findings of this Harvard University report.

For more information on how to help build healthier communities, visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place. Also, check out a great blog about this subject from the Grassroots Leadership Network.

The timing could not be better for the launch of the landmark PBS documentary
Unnatural Causes – Is Inequality Making us Sick?, a four-part series that sheds light on the critical importance of economics, race and class on health outcomes.

The documentary (which I helped advise) skillfully portrays the vast disparities in health and overall quality of life between families with wealth and those clinging to the middle and lower rungs of the economic ladder.

The more money you have, the better your health. This powerful and vital message is at the heart of the series and helped spur the creation of the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place, which I direct.

More resources and insights below the fold….

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Tune in TONIGHT to PBS for the premiere of a seven-part series, “Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?”

1. The first part of the series, “In Sickness and In Wealth,” which airs tonight at 10 pm EST, travels to Louisville, Kentucky to explore how social class shapes opportunities for good health. According to the installment “the U.S. has the greatest income inequality – and the worst health.” The episode also takes a look at Louisville’s innovative Center for Health Equity, a first-of-its-kind collaboration between members of the community, government, private business, and health-care organizations—all focused on the social conditions that underlie opportunities for health and wellbeing.

Watch a preview clip here:

Where you live determines how you live.

“Health Care State Rankings 2008,” by independent publisher CQ Press, has named Mississippi the most unhealthy state in America, followed by last year’s dubious winner, Louisiana.

According to the report on AOL.com, “Mississippi has the highest rate of teenage births in the nation, the highest infant mortality rate and the highest rate of sexually transmitted diseases. It also has the largest percentage of obese adults and adults who do not exercise.” Interestingly, the country seems divided by regions; the top unhealthiest cities are mostly in the South or West while the healthiest cities tend to be in the Northeast or Midwest.

Unhealthiest States

1. Mississippi
2. Louisiana
3. New Mexico
4. Nevada
5. Florida

Healthiest States

1. Minnesota
2. New Hampshire
3. Vermont
4. Maine
5. Massachusetts

PolicyLink believes that where you live determines how well you live; and available resources are not always equally distributed. Furthermore, communities of color and low-income communities often deal with issues of poverty and economic disinvestment, that compromise individual and community health. For more information on these issues, check out: “Why Place Matters: Building a Movement for Healthy Communities,” (pdf) a report by PolicyLink and The California Endowment, which provides an interesting framework that further explains the relationship between community conditions and health.

The Delaware News-Journal has an interesting op-ed today about the impact of the built environment on our health. Written by two leaders at Nemours Health and Prevention Services, the piece looks at how better community planning, more park space, and easier access to healthy food stores can help families craft a truly healthy lifestyle.

Remember a time when you walked to school? Or played with friends outside for hours after dinner?

Maybe you even stayed outside for awhile after it got dark just to squeeze in a few more minutes of shooting hoops, playing catch or riding your bike.

Today, many of our kids do not have this experience.

Many factors in our communities prevent them from being active outside. Traffic, neighborhood safety concerns, and the lack of nearby parks or playgrounds are just a few.

For more information and resources on how to make your community more healthy, please visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place.