AARP - Segunda Juventud - Hispanics and Diabetes: The Facts

Hispanics and Diabetes: The Facts

By Virginia Cueto
Spring 2008

In Search of a Cure

Diabetes-Friendly Recipes

Diabetes is a growing epidemic for Hispanics. In fact, the National Diabetes Education Program estimates that nearly half of U.S. Hispanic children born in the year 2000 are likely to develop diabetes.

Consider the following statistics from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health:

	Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death among Hispanics in the United States, and the fourth leading cause of death among Hispanic women and Hispanics age 65 and older.
	Latinos are 1.5 times more likely to have diabetes than non-Hispanic whites.
	More than 2.5 million Hispanic Americans aged 20 or older have been diagnosed as diabetic.
	Mexican Americans are 1.7 times more likely than non-Hispanic whites to develop diabetes, while Puerto Ricans are 1.8 times more likely to suffer from the disease.
	Approximately 26 percent of Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans, and 16 percent of Cuban Americans between the ages of 45 and 74 have diabetes.
	Among people with diabetes, Mexican Americans are up to 6.6 times more likely to suffer from end-stage renal disease.

The good news: you can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 90 to 95 percent of cases and occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin or cannot effectively use the insulin it produces.

Just follow a healthy diet, exercise or walk 30 minutes daily, and control your body weight. Danger signs that you may be developing diabetes include frequent urination, excessive thirst and hunger, increased fatigue, and blurry vision.

For additional information on preventing type 2 diabetes, including a recipe and meal planner and an exercise music CD specifically developed for Latinos, visit Preventing Diabetes Step by Step on the National Diabetes Education Program website, which provides information in English and Spanish, or call 1-800-438-5383.

These links are provided for informational purposes only. AARP does not endorse, and has no control over, or responsibility for, the linked sites or the content, advertisements, materials, products, or services available on or throughout these sites.

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