Closing the Gap: Type 2 Diabetes and More
Type 2 diabetes — and some related complications — are more likely to affect Black and Latino Americans than white Americans. And yet, minorities are less likely to receive proper treatment.
While the number of people who’ve been diagnosed with diabetes has been relatively consistent since 2000, there’s one undeniable discrepancy: Black and Latino Americans are more likely to have diabetes (12.1 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively) than white Americans (6.9 percent). For Black Americans, this disparity also extends to chronic kidney disease: It affects 23.1 percent of Black adults, compared with 17.2 percent of white adults and 8.9 percent of Latino adults.
Despite this, minorities in the United States are less likely to be prescribed GLP-1 agonists — medications that can help control blood sugar levels and aid in weight loss — partly due to bias and less access to health insurance and healthcare.
Organizations such as the African American Diabetes Association are helping address these inequities, but there are also steps you can take to become your own best advocate.
Black Americans are nearly twice as likely as white Americans to develop type 2 diabetes.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
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Resources
- National Diabetes Statistics Report. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May 15, 2024.
- Rodriguez LA et al. Race and Ethnicity and Pharmacy Dispensing of SGLT2 Inhibitors and GLP-1 Receptor Agonists in Type 2 Diabetes . The Lancet Regional Health — Americas. June 2024.