A friend’s brush with death related to diabetes motivated a local teen to get educated about the disease.
Fifteen-year-old
Zae Gregory, an aspiring entertainer –– model, actress, singer, comedian, has
added juvenile diabetes awareness advocate to her portfolio.
“My
friend went into diabetic shock and she never told anybody that she even had
diabetes,” Gregory told the Defender about a then-7th-grade friend. “I heard of it,
but I thought it was for older people.”
Gregory’s
grandmother and great-grandmother have diabetes.
Type 1
diabetes was previously known as juvenile diabetes because it's usually
diagnosed in children and young adults. About 1 in every 400 children and
adolescents has type 1 diabetes, according to the American Diabetes
Association.
Type 2 is
the most common form of diabetes. Historically, type 2 diabetes has been
diagnosed primarily in middle-aged adults, however, adolescents and young
adults are developing type 2 diabetes at an alarming rate. The lack of exercise
and increasing incidence of obesity are risk factors for type 2 diabetes,
according to the association.
The scare
was an eye-opening experience for the teen.
The Miss
Teen Illinois USA 2010 finalist embarked on a speaking tour last August to get
middle school and high schoolers involved in diabetes awareness. She spread the
message in various health fairs and summer events in the Chicagoland area.
“I talk
about what I care about and what I think is important,” said Gregory, a Chicago
Arts Performing Arts High School student.
She found
that many teens are insecure about telling others they have diabetes because
it’s viewed as negative. Using the story about her friend’s diabetic collapse
got her young audiences’ attention and helped them realize that keeping the
disease to themselves could hurt more than help them.
Gregory
also stressed the importance of good food choices to help reduce the risk of
childhood obesity and stave of possibility of getting diabetes.
“McDonalds
and Popeye’s are good, but we can’t eat it all the time. My mom and I are on
the verge of becoming vegetarians,” she added.
Copyright
2011 Chicago Defender
