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February 10th, 2012
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I heard about the new Hannah Montana episode from Kerri's Six Until Me blog last week. I knew that Disney had a personal interest in diabetes because of the Jonas brother who has type 1. Honestly, I really wasn't surprised to learn that an episode dealing with a diabetes diagnosis was scheduled.

 

However, I was surprised after I watched the unaired episode to see how poorly diabetes was portrayed by Disney. I gave them some credit for even approaching the subject and trying to make it as simple as possible for the half hour show. But I couldn't excuse them for their blatant disregard of everything diabetics have worked for since the introduction of carb counting.

 

I would assume that Nick Jonas would have been one of their sources of information considering he's in the target demographic and lives daily with the disease. So I wondered if the shows' interpretation of diabetes was the way that Nick Jonas lives his life. Does he find sugar too hard to ignore or maintain a sugar free world? And if so, who's going to give Mr. Jonas the wake up call?

 

I hoped the episode would be further edited to include more information on carb counting and the reality of the disease, instead of the sugar focus that it currently had. Overall, I desperately wanted the episode to air because it involved a major, consistent character being diagnosed.  So it was a way for diabetes to make it into mainstream media.

 

But over the weekend, I read the news that the show was pulled because too many doctors and parents of diabetics protested against the inaccurate portrayal. Apparently, it will be reconsidered. There was no expected air date on the reconsideration of the show.

 

My question is: Will it even air now? Or will Disney be too scared of getting something wrong to even approach the topic? Have we sacrificed any media exposure by wanting accurate details about diabetes? What's the cost of our sacrifice?




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Julia
JuliaJulia lives behind the Tofu Curtain, in the Pioneer Valley, in Western Massachusetts. It's a nice place. She likes it there. Her eldest daughter, Olivia, has type 1 diabetes. She's also 13. It's a real toss-up as to which is more difficult -- the diabetes or the teen-age drama. (Read More)
Lindsey Guerin
Lindsey GuerinLindsey is a typical, yet unique, Texas girl who loves shopping, movies and reading. She loves to travel and take risks. She dreams of diabetes cures, never-ending cheesecake and her own airplane. The rest you can discover in her blog! (Read More)
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