Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 28 December 2001 — Page 2

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THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28,2001

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Adult diabetes among Black women at epidemic proportions

By SIOBHAN BENET (WOMENSENEWS)-Cases of Type II diabetes, which occurs almost entirely in adults, are on the rise for all Americans, but AfricanAmerican women are being hit particularly hard. Of the 15.7 million men and women diagnosed with all forms of diabetes more than half are women-and more than half of them are African American. “The increase in diabetes rates has a lot to do with the rise in obesity, our sedentary lifestyles and the fact that people are living longer,” says Joanne Gallivan, director of the National Diabetes Education Program at the National Institutes of Health. According to the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston, adult men and women of all races are about eight pounds heavier than they were in 1985. In fact, one of every two Americans is overweight. Ninety percent of people with Type II diabetes are overweight, according to Dr. Terry Maratos-Rier, chief of the section on obesity at the Joslin Diabetes Center. “Certainly that is no coincidence.” Obesity rates for Black women are particularly high. The Black Women’s Health Project, for example, reports that out of every 100 Black women, 67 are overweight and 38 of those overweight women are obese. (The Joslin Diabetes Center says a person is considered obese when he or she is 20 percent or more above her or his ideal body weight.) “Many people eat to self-medicate,” says Dr. Maratos-Flier. “They are using food to treat their depression, loneliness and anger.” Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or make proper use of insulin, a hormone that con verts sugar, starches and other food into energy. Type I, or juvenile, diabetes primarily affects children and young adults. People with Type I diabetes must take daily insulin injections to survive. Cases of Type I diabetes are often attributed to genetics. The number of Type I diabetes cases totals around 5 to 10 percent of all diagnosed diabetes cases. On the other hand, Type II diabetes accounts for more than 90 percent of all diabetes cases worldwide. And the numbers continue to rise. A report released by the U.S. Centers for Dis-

ease Control and the American Diabetes Association says that diabetes increased by a record 6 percent between 1998 and 1999. And the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, including gestational diabetes (a temporary condition during pregnancy), increased 33 percent from 1990 to 1998, with the largest increase occurring among people aged 30 to 39. If left untreated. Type II diabetes can lead to blindness, amputation of limbs, kidney disease, stroke and heart attack-all potentially deadly. The issue of food is critical. Medicating the blues with food and the need to rely on inexpensive food, often higher in fat and lower in nutrition-has potentially deadly consequences for Black women. “High-fat diets, super-sized portions and lack of physical activity are resulting in extremely high rates of Type II diabetes in Black women,” says Leslie Curtis of Sisters Together, a program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases last October. The National Women’s Health Information Center reports that Black women over 55 are almost twice as likely as White women to have diabetes. Diabetes affects African Americans, both women and men, at a rate nearly double that of White Americans. And the death rates for African Americans with diabetes are 2.5 times higher than for their White counterparts. “In order to address this epidemic among Black women, we must address psycho-social factors as well as diet and physical activity,” said Dr. Lorraine Cole, president of the Black Women’s Health Project, a Washington-based nonprofit organization. “We have to address issues around stress and body image.” Groups like Sisters Together are doing just that. “We understand how difficult it is to modify lifelong habits,” says Dr. Griffin Rodgers, the deputy director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the grand marshal for the Sisters Together launch. “This is precisely why we are not suggesting that African American women make changes overnight. What’s important is to take incremental steps toward becoming healthier. Big changes often start with a few small steps.” The centerpiece of Sisters Together is a series of free publications designed to encourPAYNE Continued from A1

age Black women of all ages to improve their health. “Black woman face lifestyle stressors where food means a lot more than nutrition,” says Cole. “Food represents comfort and love, which makes it extremely difficult for many women to change lifestyle patterns.” 1 But these patterns must be changed. Studies show that African Americans diagnosed with Type II diabetes experience higher rates of at { least three serious complications including t blindness, amputation and kidney failure. Complications from diabetes can be particu- ^ larly devastating to Black women, many of whom are less likely to have access to quality health care. For example. Medicare and Medicaid, the federal government’s two largest health care programs, may limit access to many of the health care services needed to manage diabetes. Medicare-the health program covering those over 65-covers glucose monitoring, testing strips, lancing devices and education but does not cover medication or insulin. “Our health is the poorest on every health indicator and the worst indicator on every disease,” says Cole. “Black women’s health hasn’t J reached the level of recognition of crisis that it E deserves.” !’ Cole hopes that a study launched by The | Black Women’s Health Project to develop a / weight management program to address the \ needs of the Black community will curtail the V diabetes epidemic. But health care providers like Dr. Judy Sharpless, director of the Women’s Health Clinic at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Massachusetts, know that the diabetes epidemic will not be stemmed until Americans, Black and White, make their health a priority. A September 2001 study published in “The New England Journal of Medicine” confirms the bad news. The study. Diet, Lifestyle, And The Risk of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Women, states that half the cases of diabetes in the study could have been prevented by the combination of a healthy diet, regular exercise, abstinence from smoking and moderate alcohol consumption. “The challenge is to get that message to all of our communities.” Siobhan Benet is content manager and a staff writer for Women’s Enews.

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of the principals and the IPS School Board—I give them a lot of credit.” Payne’s leadership in designing cultural curriculum, cultural contemporary workshops and professional development for teachers has made IPS a national leader in multicultural education. Payne serves on the executive committee of the Mayor’s Indianapolis Commission on the Afri-can-American Male, the Conner Prairie Museum board of directors, the board of the Peace Learning Center and a trustee on the board of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She served as president of the Indianapolis Education Association (IEA), chairperson of the Indiana State Teacher Association Instruction and Professional Development Committee and was

appointed by the governor as a commissioner on the Teacher Education and Licensing Study Committee. At the national level, Payne has served as chairperson of the NEA Black Caucus and co-chairperson of the Minority Affairs Committee. She represented the National Education Association at a meeting with South African teachers in Botswana and was the NEA representative at an international meeting of teacher leaders in Switzerland. She was also the recipient of the NEA’s Carter G. Woodson Award for going above and beyond the call of duty to make Black history an integral part of the curriculum. Payne has been honored as the IPS Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for the State Teacher of the

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Year. She received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in Bloomington. She earned her master’s degree and administrative license from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. In 1990, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Martin University. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. Trends in education include the opening of four charter schools in Indianapolis by the year 2002 within the IPS district and Payne has much to say about it. “I am truly upset about this,” she emphasized, “I am very much against them... they are not a solution or alternative. It concerns me deeply that this is another mechanism that is going to weaken the

public schools where the masses of children will always go. “I do not believe the choice should be funded by public dollars. 1 have always looked suspiciously on vouchers and using public monies. If you’re going to haveachoice it should not be funded by public dollars. It’s not politically smart, in my opinion, because I’m a public school advocate from the word go. I’ve been around public schools for 40 years — I know!.”' Payne has been honored because of her contributions to multicultural education and peacemaking and was inducted into the Peace Learning Center’s Peacemaker Wall of Fame — located in a building on the grounds of Eagle Creek Park on the city’s Northwestside.

JACOBS Continued from A1

during the era of “Reaganomics” this was considered “crazy”; serving on the House committee that drafted the 1965 Voting Rights Act; serving as the “dove” conscience member in Congress; and author of the bill that made Social Security an independent agency of the federal government. Even though his accomplishments are important and recognized by many, Jacobs still maintains that one of his most remembered and proudest moments came during the Vietnam War. Quakers had gathered on the House steps and were reading a list of the dead. They were systematically being arrested by police even though they were bothering no one and even though “what they were really doing was bothering consciences,” said Jacobs. “I made a call on the House floor condemning the war,” Jacobs recalled, “and three congressmen and I went out to read names with the Quakers. We tried to get arrested with them and did,” he recalled. “In court. Judge Harold Green dismissed all cases with this opinion... the people’sCq>itol cannot be declared off limiti to the people.”

Jacobs, after his many years in Washington, is practicing law, writing a weekly column for the Indianapolis Business Journal, and sits on the boards of several corporations and non-profits in the city. His two books, 1600Killers and latest book, a memoir. Sweet Judgment has received popular acclaim in the state, and Jacobs leans towards writing, perhaps, a novel. “Writers can look at things and see more than what meets the eye,” he laughingly explained, “I’m not sure I can do that.” Asked what his life is like away from Washington, Jacobs slowly smiled and sighed, “It’s delightful. I always said to my strongest critics ... 30 minutes is a lot in Washington but to my loving friends I always said... 30 years in long enough.” Jacobs lives on the Northwestside of Indianapolis; and he and his wife, former TV newswoman, Kim Hood, have two sons, ages 10 and 12. “My fulltime employment,” he said, “is raising these two boys. 1 hope I’ve made the most impact on my sons.” His extended family includes nephews, whom he claimed, “are my best friends.” »,