Diabetes and Health Disparities

Offers a social, cultural, and historical analysis of the disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes in communities of color across the US with a comprehensive epidemiological overview. This book catalogues evidence-based and promising community models, interventions and policies that are scalable.

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Diabetes is the only major disease with a death rate that is still rising. Minority populations are particularly at risk. This book combines a social, cultural, and historical analysis of the disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes in communities of color across the U.S. with a comprehensive epidemiological overview. This innovative book reframes the traditional biomedical view of diabetes and its principle risk factor - obesity - from a focus on the body, personal choices, and the clinical manifestations of diabetes to an examination of the social environment. It emphasizes the importance of community-based approaches to healthy eating, exercise, and reducing the 'obesogenic' environment in which many minorities live. This book offers the first comprehensive overview of social determinants of the disparity in diabetes prevalence in communities of color across the U.S. It provides an extensive, systematic review of the diabetes literature. It catalogues evidence-based and promising community models, interventions and policies that are scalable. It presents lessons learned from successful diabetes prevention and control programs.