Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death and disability today in the United States.
Total health care and related costs for the treatment of diabetes run about $132 billion annually, according to the National Diabetes Education Program, a federally funded program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The disease affects Hispanics disproportionately.
On average, about 2.5 million — some 9.5% of — Hispanic and Latino Americans age 20 years and older have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to NDEP.
Mexican Americans are 1.7 times as likely to have diabetes as non-Hispanic whites of similar age.
Residents of Puerto Rico are 1.8 times as likely to have diagnosed diabetes as non-Hispanic U.S. whites.
The opportunity for retailers is that, along with taking proper medicine, people with diabetes can help manage their disease by eating healthy foods.
A trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health showed that healthier food choices and physical activity can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes in overweight adults with pre-diabetes.
