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Item
#4
Diabetes
TV Coverage Lags Way Behind
We
need to do a better job of getting the word out!
CBS is the best and CNN is the worst. Imagine only 2
stations reported the results of the DCCT study. There were as
many stories on Rezulin as on the prevalence of diabetes.
From
1 January 1991 through 31 December 2000, a total of 77 diabetes-related
reports were aired by ABC (22 reports), CBS (35
reports), NBC (18 reports), or CNN (2 reports). Because each
network may carry essentially the same story on occasion (e.g.,
two of the networks carried the announcement of the Diabetes Control
and Complications Trial results and three announced the
initial successes of the Alberta protocol), the number of non-overlapping
reports was 62. By contrast, a total of 1,695 cancer
and 2,151 overlapping heart disease-related broadcasts aired
during the same decade. These overlapping totals were at
least 20-fold higher than those for diabetes-related broadcasts.
Non-overlapping cancer and heart disease–related
broadcasts were certain, therefore, to be multifold
higher than those for diabetes-related broadcasts.
Of
the 23 diabetes-related stories aired in 2000 (30% of all diabetes-related
reports during the decade), 12 reported the problems
with Rezulin. Since 1995, 12 reported the increasing prevalence
of diabetes. Three stories, including two about the death
of Ella Fitzgerald in 1994, involved celebrities. The U.K.
Prospective Diabetes Study was not covered. Only one story, a
1996 CBS report featuring the effects of diet and exercise on
Pima Indians, mentioned racial disparities in diabetes. These
disparities, however, were more often mentioned in news
reports related to both cancer and heart disease.
Diabetes-related
coverage by local newscasts and entertainment programming
were not assessed in this study. These media have undoubtedly
made valuable contributions to Americans’ diabetes
awareness. The national nightly network news programs, nevertheless,
have greater potential for widely and routinely disseminating
diabetes-related messages. Increased coverage of
stories involving diabetes research and diabetes-related people,
products, and pharmaceuticals would certainly complement the
efforts of the National Diabetes Education Program to improve
diabetes management. Attention to diabetes in racial and
ethnic minorities might be especially helpful.
The
TV news data over the past 30 years suggest that national government
and voluntary health organizations that advocate for
cancer and heart disease continue to be at least 20 times more
effective than diabetes advocates at consistently and repeatedly
bringing disease-related stories to the nation. In addition,
national news coverage has virtually ignored racial
disparities in diabetes. We can and must do better. Source:
Diabetes Care 25:607, 2002
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News
Flash:
ADA
Releases New Dietary Guidelines
The
new guidelines support the view that the total amount of
carbohydrates consumed in meals and snacks is important in
diabetes control, not the source of the carbohydrates. The
guidelines emphasize weight loss and physical activity and focus
on individualized dietary plans based on lifestyle, diabetes
management goals and other lifestyle factors.
Reference:
American Diabetes Association. Evidence-based nutrition principles
and recommendations for the treatment and prevention of diabetes
and related complications. Diabetes Care 2002; 25: 202-12.
To
see how you can provide individualized dietary plans based on
lifestyle for your patients,
Click
Here For More Information!
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