Women and Diabetes

Factors that Place Women at Risk for Diabetes and its Complications

Women face increasing risk of diabetes and its complications because of certain social, cultural and economic trends. There are increasing trends in the numbers of women who

• Live in poverty (by age 65, women are twice as likely as men to be poor).
• Work in small companies that provide fewer benefits and lower pay than larger companies and face significant challenges to balance job and family responsibilities.
• Are uninsured and/or lack access to health care (approximately one in seven women lack health insurance).
• Are overweight and do not exercise regularly (about one-half of women age 20 and older are overweight and more than one-quarter do not engage in regular physical activity).

Recommended objectives to improving the health and well-being of women with or at risk for diabetes.

1. Encourage and support diabetes prevention and control programs in state health departments to develop prevention programs for all women and establish efficient links for women at risk for Type 2 diabetes.
2. Expand community-based health promotion education, activities and incentives for all ages in a wide variety of settings—schools, workplaces, senior centers, churches, civic organizations and other locations where women live, learn, work and play.
3. Strengthen advocacy on behalf of women with or at risk for diabetes.
4. Fortify community programs for women with sufficient funding, training, tools and materials.
5. Expand population-based surveillance to monitor and understand:
   1. Variations in the distribution of diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes and of impaired glucose tolerance within and among groups.
   2. The factors—cultural, racial, ethnic, geographic, demographic, socioeconomic, and genetic—that influence the risk for diabetes and its complications among women at all life stages.
6. Educate community leaders about diabetes and its management and about the value of healthy environments. Increase diabetes awareness programs and materials in workplaces, health care settings, (such as drug stores, pharmacies and health clinics), the media, and the community (such as recreational centers, schools, churches, barber shops and beauty shops).
7. Encourage health care providers to promote risk assessment, quality care and self-management for diabetes and its complications in their practice settings.
8. Ensure access to trained health care providers who offer quality services consistent with established health care guidelines.
9. Encourage health care coverage and incentives for recommended diabetes prevention and management practices by:
   1. Promoting partnerships between insurers and workplaces or labor communities and encouraging employers and employees to discuss needed diabetes benefits in offered health packages.
   2. Working with health insurers and policy makers to expand coverage and reimbursement policies to include prevention services for women throughout their lives.
   3. Increasing health coverage and promoting purchasing cooperatives including small business.
   4. Conduct public health research to further our knowledge about the epidemiologic, socioenvironmental, behavioral, translational and biomedical factors that influence diabetes and women's health.