Diabetes: Deaths Rising

In today's newspapers, everyone is discussing diabetes and how it is impacting our communities. I live in NYC, and based on amNewYork's article, my old neighborhood, Bedford-Stuyvesant, is amongst the highest deaths due to diabetes - 137 per 100,000 people. This is not surprising, but it does make one wonder why?

Diabetes is a disease which is rapidly taking the lives of many of our loved ones. This was one of my main concerns about my own health because my background consists of diabetics - grandmother, mother, aunts, and cousins - this is within my blood line. I heard of how my grandmother suffered, and I watch my aunts and mother take insulin daily, so it was a motivator for me to change my lifestyle.

In the article, local officials indicated they are not surprised about the numbers because of the social environment people live in. Living a healthy lifestyle requires knowledge, and for some reason, the knowledge is not coming quick enough. People are not properly utilizing their EBT (food stamps), and everyone things the best way to be healthy, is by only eating organic. This has to stop! There is no reason why people are not seeking to find healthier alternatives to avoid living with this disease. Chips, cookies, and huge sodas are cheap and easy to purchase, but you can easily eat healthy on a budget.

I would love to host a workshop in these neighborhoods and work with organizations to educate people on how to eat healthy, love it, and not break the bank. I shop healthier, and do not overspend. I do not buy organic. There are ways to help yourself when the system will not help you. I do not want to live with diabetes, and we need to stop now. These numbers are outrageous! Brownsville, Brooklyn -177... Hunts Point,  Bronx - 117... Bushwick, Brooklyn - 126, but when you look at other neighborhoods within NYC you see lower numbers: Murray Hill, Manhattan - 19... Borough Park, Brooklyn, 35... Upper West Side, Manhattan - 41... So, if in one city, half of the neighborhoods are suffering from this disease, but just a few miles away, others are not, then we have an issue!

Today, I vow to make sure Success Weight continue to do their part in NYC and nationwide to help other people, who are serious in making this change. Diabetes is not something we should have to live with, and if you are living with it, there are ways to help yourself...

TW aka Plus Size Health Nut