Today is a very special day. November 14, 2014 is World Diabetes Day (WDD). The purpose of the day is to unite the global diabetes communities to create a powerful voice for advocacy and awareness.
In 1991, the International Diabetes Federation created World Diabetes Day with support from the World Health Organization (WHO). It was created as a response to the growing rate of diabetes and the world health implications of such a debilitating disease.
In 2007, the passage of United Nations resolution 61/225 made World Diabetes Day an official United Nations Day to spotlight issues and advocacy for diabetes.
November 14 has been specially picked as World Diabetes Day because it is the birthday of Frederick Banting who in 1921, along with Charles Best, first came up with the idea that led to the discovery of insulin.
Each year there is a theme that is unveiled on November 14 and celebrated for the rest of the year. The 2014 theme is Healthy Living and Diabetes.
This year's World Diabetes Day is being kicked off by recognizing the importance of a healthy breakfast to prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes and also to prevent complications of diabetes.
Eating breakfast has been shown to help manage all types of diabetes. In the last couple of years there have been studies confirming that people who eat breakfast have lower risk of developing diabetes than those who skip breakfast.
The International Diabetes Federation has created some key messages about the importance of having a healthy breakfast globally. Here are the highlights:
- Creating and ensuring that globally people have access to healthy breakfast is essential to reducing the worldwide burden of diabetes
- Over 70 percent of Type 2 diabetes cases can be delayed or prevented by adopting a healthier lifestyle. This is equivalent to 150 million cases by 2035.
- Eating healthy breakfast decreases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes
- One of the contributing factors to the global epidemic of Type 2 diabetes is a wide variety of cheap food with little nutrition
- Globally we need to have a wide variety of affordable foods like vegetables, fresh fruit, whole grains, lean meat, fish, nuts and unsaturated fats that reduce the risk for Type 2 diabetes. These foods also help avoid the complications people living with diabetes experience.
- Diabetes is a growing global burden that is expected to almost double by 2035.
- Global health spending on the treatment of diabetes and its complications totaled about $550 billion in 2013.
- By focusing on preventable risk for Type 2 diabetes, every country across the globe could reduce total health care expenditures by up to 11 percent.
World Diabetes Day is important because it shines a light on ways we can improve our individual health, community health and global issues.
This year’s theme shows the importance of eating a healthy breakfast and how doing so can help reduce the onset of diabetes and its complications. So eat up and share this information with the people you love to help stop diabetes.
Live Vibrantly,
Dr. Dae
Diabetes Ambassador Champion, National Capital Area Region
Dr. Dae's website: www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's book: Daelicious! Recipes for Vibrant Living can be purchased @ www.healthydaes.com
Dr. Dae's Bio:
Dr. Daemon Jones is your diabetes reversal, hormones, metabolism and weight loss expert. Dr. Dae is a naturopathic doctor who treats patients all over the country using Skype and phone visits. Visit her or schedule a free consultation at her website www.HealthyDaes.com
Sources:
About World Diabetes Day. (n.d.). Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.idf.org/worlddiabetesday/about
http://www.idf.org/sites/default/files/wdd-guidebook-2014-en.pdf
Mekary RA. et al. Eating patterns and type 2 diabetes risk in men: breakfast omission, eating frequency, and snacking. Am J Clin Nutr. 2012 May;95(5):1182-9. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.028209. Epub 2012 Mar 28. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22456660
Mekary RA et al. Eating patterns and type 2 diabetes risk in older women: breakfast consumption and eating frequency. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Aug;98(2):436-43. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.112.057521. Epub 2013 Jun 12. Retrieved November 14, 2014, from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23761483
Reviewed November 17, 2014
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith