In recognition of American Diabetes Month, I’m working on a story about diabetes among Latinos in the San Joaquín Valley.

The story, which will run in the Nov. 24 edition of Vida en el Valle, will focus on the individual experiences of a few Latinos in the San Joaquín Valley who are living with diabetes. (UPDATE: Read the full story here.)

In the San Joaquín Valley, 11.3 percent of Latinos have been diagnosed with diabetes. Across California, more than 2 million adults have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research report, “Obesity and Diabetes: Two Growing Epidemics in California.”

For now, I’d like to introduce you to a few of the people who are featured in the story.

Jesús Sánchez
Age: 29
Time with diabetes: 3 months
Birth place/Current home: Oaxaca, México/Madera, CA
Advice for people recently diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes: “Don’t lose heart. Do your best: pay attention to your doctor, eat healthier food, and follow the diet.”

Esperanza Aguillón
Age: 60
Time with diabetes: 14 years
Birth place/Current home: Mexicali, México/Porterville, CA
Advice: “You have to accept that you have this disease and you have to take care of yourself. If it’s not for you, it should be for your loved ones.
“You have to make the sacrifice. At first it is difficult, it is very difficult to become accustomed to another way of eating, but it’s worth it to take care of yourself and feel better.”

Azucena Durán
Age: 25
Time with gestational diabetes: 1.5 months
Birth place/current home: Jalisco, México/Stockton, CA
Advice for women with gestational diabetes: “It’s really all going to be worth it in the end – the dieting, the insulin. As much as it’s stressful and tedious, it really will all be worth it in the end.
“Yeah, I really want that piece of cheesecake, but then it’s not good for your baby, and ultimately your goal is to have a healthy baby. It’s all worth it in the end.”

Vanessa
Age: 13
Time with type 1 diabetes: 4 years
Current home: Selma, CA
Advice for kids diagnosed with type 1 diabetes: “At first it starts off bad – you don’t know what is happening. But once you start learning about it, you start to understand that it’s not your fault, it just happens. And things are going to change, but you will start getting used to it, and pretty much your life is going to go back to how it was, and diabetes is going to be another part of you, like your personality. You’re going to be a normal person like you were before, just having to do things a little differently.”

For more information about Latinos and diabetes, check out these sites:

• Latino Nutrition Coalition: Inspires Latinos to improve their health through traditional foods and active lifestyles
• TuDiabetes.org:  An online community for people with diabetes
• American Diabetes Association, en español
• Latino Diabetes Association: (website currently under construction.)

Two recent studies out of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research prove something many of us already know: Residents of the San Joaquín Valley face great health disparities.

• An August 2010 policy brief, “Obesity and Diabetes: Two Growing Epidemics in California,” spells out bad news for Latinos, specifically those of Mexican origin.

According to the study, the prevalence of obesity among Latinos of Mexican origin increased from 26 percent in 2001 to 31 percent in 2007. Similarly, diabetes in Mexican-Americans increased from 7 percent in 2001 to 10 percent in 2007.

The study also has bad health news for those who live below the poverty line, and those with no high school education.

According to the study, 27.7 percent of adults living below the poverty line are obese, while 19.6 percent of higher-income adults are obese. The rate of obesity is twice as high among adults without a high school education, and the prevalence of diabetes is three times higher for this group than college graduates.

That’s ominous news for the San Joaquín Valley, where there’s high rates of poverty and low levels of educational achievenment. In Fresno County, for example, 21.2 percent of individuals lived below the poverty line, and 72.9 percent of residents have a high school degree or higher.

The report comes to the conclusion that, across California, the San Joaquín Valley is the region with the highest prevalence of obesity and diabetes.

• The Valley didn’t fare any better in the UCLA Center on Health Policy Research report, “California Uninsured by County.”

According to the report authors, loss of health insurance in 2009 was concentrated in three regions: the San Joaquín Valley, as well as Southern California (Imperial, Riverside, and San Bernadino,) and the Northern/Sierra areas (every county but Sutter and Humbolt.

In the Valley, for example, 32 percent of Madera County residents were uninsured for all or part of the year, and 31.6 percent of Merced County residents were uninsured for all or part of the year.

The report authors said these losses were likely to due to sharp increases in local unemployment, and corresponding drops in household income and job-based insurance coverage.

• All of that somber information begs the question: How are we ever going to turn around the Valley’s health inequities?

At a recent Latino Coalition for a Healthy California meeting, LCHC regional networks director Marcia Dávalos said prevention is critical in order to address health disparities and inequalities. Behavior and environment have a greater impact on health than genetics and medical care, she said.

She said it’s important to consider the factors that are required to build a healthy community – like racial justice, jobs, and education; social networks, norms and customs; safe environments with parks, clean air, water, and soil; and high-quality, culturally competent health care services.

What would it take to make your community healthier? If your environment changed, do you think it would impact your health behaviors?