Misleading Diabetes News Reports

Thank you, Gretchen, I'm so pleased to see someone else gets as irritated as I do with these reports! 

The news media seem obsessed with the idea that diabetes is something fat people get.   I know the truth is not so simple.  But I'm concerned that 'diabetic=fat' is the overwhelming message the public are receiving.  On one day, there might be a news story that a new gene has been identified which is implicated in one or another type of diabetes (in other words, there's a genetic component).  Next day, the same newsreader is spouting the obese=diabetic message!  Its also often stated or implied that weight loss and exercise can 'cure or prevent diabetes'.  Sometimes the phrase 'type 2' is used, but that's the only indication other types exist.

I sometimes wish I had this 'tabloid news diabetes'.  No need for all those symptom-awareness campaigns or expensive research (often supported by donations from diabetics and their loved ones), or come to think of it, for all those injections I keep pumping in.  I just need to skip dessert and I'll be cured!!! 

Figures vary, but apparently around 80% of type 2 diabetics are obese at diagnosis.  Am I the only one to spot that this means around 20% are NOT obese?  Surely if 20% had another common risk factor, there'd be publicity about it?  Instead it seems these 20% who don't fit the easy message are being ignored.  And made to feel guilty that their condition is 'their own fault'.

Aside from my grumbling, there's a serious point here.  Diabetes UK estimates there are around 750,000 undiagnosed diabetics in the UK.  A proportion of those will have type 1, or non-obese type 2, or medication-induced diabetes. Maybe they've listened to the media messages, and think they're not at risk because they're not overweight?