When you're wrong, you're wrong. In an earlier report, we told you that Miley Cyrus objected to the Disney Channel pulling a Hannah Montana episode about diabetes that was to air this Sunday.
Disney did not reveal the specific objections of the parents who previewed the show.
Thankfully one of our readers was among those parents and she was gracious enough to explain why they objected. Here is her full comment:
The parents objected to the following:
1) Misinformation about Type 1 Diabetes. The entire show focused on Miley stopping Oliver from eating sugar. Children and adults with type 1 diabetes CAN eat candy — they simply take insulin to match what they eat. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, MS. Children with type 1 have done nothing to cause this — their bodies have simply attacked themselves.
2) Eating a lot of sugar does not cause type 1 diabetes. Oliver, the character with diabetes, was portrayed as a sugar loving fiend — at one point falling into a garbage barrel to get a half eaten and discarded candy bar.
3) Miley called Oliver "sugar boy."Imagine a character in a wheelchair being called "wheelie boy" or 'cripple boy". It just isn't funny, is it?
4) The show never mentioned Oliver checking blood sugar (children with type 1 typically check blood sugar by finger stick up to 10 times per day) or injecting insulin (children usually need 4 or more shots a day — every time they eat — or wear insulin pumps which continuously give them insulin throughout the day).
Type 1 diabetes is a serious medical condition. The parents who objected to this episode applauded Disney for their attempt to bring Diabetes education to the forefront but completely rejected the message that they served up. Considering that Hannah Montana is seen by many school children every day, we felt that this message was a dangerous one to promote. I certainly would not be happy if a fellow classmate of my young child called him "sugar boy".
We thank Disney for pulling this episode. We also were in touch with the medical expert who consulted on this episode and his feeling was that his "consultation" was not reflected accurately in the script.
I'm sure my statements do not mean much to most people, but to the millions of children who have Type 1 diabetes it means the world that this hateful and damaging misinformation will not be aired.
Your statements mean the world to us, Michelle. Thank you so much for informing us about the true nature of this disease that affects so many of our children.
[ Logo: American Diabetes Association ]
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Comments
Thank you, Michelle! You've spoken, once again, clearly and eloquently on our children's behalf. And Liz, thank you so much for listening and reporting the facts!
Thank you Michelle AND thank you Liz!
Thank you for clearing this up! As a parent of a fairly newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic, I get tired of explaining why my daughter can have sugar. I keep hearing she just has to watch her sugar intake & exercise. I hope Disney will redo the episode with accurate information & try to clear up the misconceptions about type 1 diabetes.
Thank you for clearing this up! As a parent of a fairly newly diagnosed Type 1 diabetic, I get tired of explaining why my daughter can have sugar. I keep hearing she just has to watch her sugar intake & exercise. I hope Disney will redo the episode with accurate information & try to clear up the misconceptions about type 1 diabetes.
Michelle is wrong on the first point. I have been diabetic for 35 years and on the pump for 25 plus years (yes, I was one of the first). Insulin is not a cure for diabetes and eating sugar, like non-diabetics, is not a good thing. The only reason I eat any type of sugar is to bring my blood-sugar up when I have a low. While I applaude the misinformation that caused the parents such consternation, by the same token, misinformation by parents who allow their children to eat something that is not good for their condition is like saying that a person with heart disease can climb high altitude mountains with no consequence. Leave the sugar for the lows.
Spencer, I think you are still stuck under the "old school" way of thinking with diabetes in regards to sugar. Absolutely no sugar consumption works for you, but isn't necessary. Everything in moderation is the key. There are studies out there that show sugar is no worse for you than any other carbohydrate in regards to blood sugar, etc.
I, too, was one of the parents fighting to pull the episode.
Michelle is correct that eating sugar does not cause diabetes. And our children can and do eat sugar. Our kids are taught to count carbs. A cookie or a banana have the same carbs and they will require the same amount of insulin for eating either one. Of course, a banana is healthier for anyone, but there is no reason a type 1 diabetic cant have the cookie.
One other thing in the episode that bothered the parents, was when oliver went digging in the dumpster because he was craving sweets. That is not a sympton/side effect of diabetes.
We were very pleasantly suprised when Disney pulled the episode and agreed to review it. WTG Disney
I applaud Disney for attempting to air an episode like this, and I further applaud them for pulling the episode when they became aware they had not portrayed diabetes properly. I hope they re-work the episode and get it right because it will be a good way to reach a lot of young people and to educate them about diabetes.
Wendy,
As you can site many studies that say sugar is okay for diabetics, I can site many others that say otherwise. I know know that after 35 years, my "old school" works. What I have found is those who partake in sugar "moderately", have peripheral issues, even after just a few years. But those who stay away from it as a general rule are in much better shape in the short and long term. Sure, it might make kids happy to be able to eat sugar like their friends, but I would rather live a good long life than one that is sweet and short. Enjoy sugar - die young. Old school? Okay. I will live longer. Studies prove that.
Spencer, we all do what works for us. I have been type 1 for 18 years. I eat sweets sometimes. My A1C is fine, I have no complications, and I am going to start a family soon. Sugar has not ruined my life. It isn't going to hurt us anymore than someone without diabetes unless, as it would happen just the same with them, we overindulge, or we don't cover it with insulin. And by nay-saying sugar are you not ruling out foods besides candy? sugar is in berries and apples, bread and oatmeal, potatoes and corn. Heck, it's in milk and cheese. If I'm not allowed any sugar I should really start growing celery since that's all I can eat. Diabetes is about balance. I can have dessert sometimes (as long as my blood sugar was okay to start with) when I'm out to dinner. I can have a slice of pizza at the food court. It's not about always being perfect, you'll only drive yourself crazy. If you can make it 95% of the time, the little times are just a blip. Besides, I think we've learned to eat a lot healthier than our "healthy" non-diabetic counterparts.
Disney via Miley insists on trivializing this chronic, serious autoimmune disease that strikes children (and some adults), kills off the alpha, beta and delta cells of the pancreas and renders them insulin-dependent for life. These young kids must take a 24 hour background insulin just to survive, as well as weighing and measuring almost every morsel they eat, counting carbs for EVERYTHING they eat, and giving an insulin shot or use the pump to cover their food. That's four to five shots a day! Blood sugar is tested (you must again draw blood) easily 8, 10, 12 times a day on their poor bruised little fingers. Blood sugars are hard to control because children grow quickly, growth hormones come out at night. So parents are up checking these kids through the night, as well, in order to keep them healthy. Before, each hour during, and after exercise, these kids must, once again, test their blood sugar and eat -- you guessed it -- SUGAR to keep them from going low. These children are at high risk, even with the most stringent care, of developing the complications of diabetes (kidney failure, blindness, amputation, autonomic nerve problems, heart disease) and they may develop these complications at a young age since they were diagnosed as children.
Because these kids take insulin to survive, as well as insulin for all food eaten, they are at great risk for insulin reactions. An insulin reaction (or "low") will cause these children to lapse into unconsciousness, seizure, coma and then death. Insulin reactions, to a varying degree, are common. The only way to treat an insulin reaction is by giving these kids SUGAR, in hard candy, juice or glucose tab form. So Miley is perpetrating a very dangerous message if she is trying to keep sugar away from diabetic children. Rest assured, these kid's diets are monitored carefully, for fat, protein, amount of carbohydrate (rice, potato, icecream, pizza, take-out food, cereal, milk and fruit), as well as the glycemic index of the carbs. ANY AND ALL CARBOHDRATE IS MONITORED JUDICIOUSLY. SUGAR IS THE LEAST OF OUR PROBLEMS HERE! Disney and Miley's message is dangerous and can make the world a less safe place for these kids. The episode is extremely offensive as well, making fun of a boy with diabetes, calling him "Sugar Boy." This is akin to making fun of a child with cancer, baldness caused by cancer drugs, etc. I am OUTRAGED!
I tottaly suport u Hannah
My child was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2005 at age 4. When she was diagnosed, the doctor specifically said that it had nothing to do with eating too much sugar. Since then, I have met many other children and adults with Type 1 diabetes - and they all agree that the disease is usually misunderstood. Type 2 diabetes is so prevalent that people often misinterpret when the general term "diabetes" is used. The two types are very, very different. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease - it is not brought on by eating or exercise habits. It cannot be cured - a Type 1 diabetic is insulin-dependent for life. Jan's post was very accurate detailing what parents and kids must deal with 24/7. My child uses an insulin pump - she must check her blood sugar 10 - 12 times a day. She must go to the nurse at school several times a day for checks and to receive insulin. She must be checked during the night. I weigh every bit of food she eats and calculate the carbohydrates in the food so she can get the right amount of insulin. Publicity on Type 1 diabetes (maybe it should be called autoimmune diabetes) can be a good thing. The PBS show Arthur did a bit on it several years ago. Nick Jonas talking about it is fabulous. The more people know about it and understand it, the better. But misinformation and inaccuracy helps no one and only serves to further confuse people. If a TV show has a character with Type 1 diabetes (I believe ABC Brothers and Sisters and ER have both had Type 1 diabetic characters), it must accurately portray this chronic illness. Just the title of the episode, "No Sugar, Sugar" tells me Disney didn't get it right. Thank you to the parents who fought to get this episode pulled.
Two things. First, it's children's television, how realistic is it supposed to be? And second, never do they say that Oliver got diabetes BECAUSE he likes sugar and eats a lot of it. They are saying he should avoid it. And squeezing another comment in, I highly doubt Miley was reference to Oliver as sugar boy had anything to do with diabetes, but the like of candy he had prior to diabetes. One last one (I'm definitely past two), but quit controlling television, so when a Hannah Montana episode gets cancelled because of your whining, and they end up watching shows like "Family Guy", I am 100% sure you won't be happy.
It's a mistake anytime a program can be "yanked" simply because a group of persons object to it. Disney was wrong to give in to this kind of pressure. Last time I checked I was in America, nor Russia. If a program was not aired simply on the protest of some group of persons then we would be hard pressed to ever have a TV show of film to watch. Surely educated people would have and could have separated the fact from fiction. If not, them they are too unintelligent to watch TV or Films. Yes, yes, I know it's a children’s show, but even my 9 year old would have been able to tell the factual from the fictional. No wonder our once great country is laughed at all over the world. We're a society of wimps and cry babies.
Also, last time I checked tv sets still have an off and on switch.
i have type one diabetes, and iam sick and tired of the misunderstend it has among many , a show in austrilia "blue water high" also did a ep of a diabeter child, and got facts wrong, yet it ws still aired, its about time people learn the truth about it and not the myths, good on them for not airing it,
I am a 17 year-old living with Type 1 Diabetes and personally, i wouldn't have found it offensive at all. Nothing of what's described above is "offensive". Disney and the cast of Hannah Montana would've recieved tremendous respect for even bothering to air the episode. Shame on those parents who objected to it. Thousands of kids my age have NO IDEA what Diabetes is, and that episode would've exposed them to the disease and what you go through with the disease. Shame on them. But I MUST thank Disney for even producing the episode.
First of all, I think the misconceptions are necessary because then, the adults in the show can tell the kids that they are wrong for thinking that you can't eat candy when you have diabetes, or that you got diabetes from eating too much. I repeat, ***They should have the adult characters tell their children that those thoughts are MISCONCEPTIONS!!! They should have the adult characters tell their children the correct facts about diabetes, not just leave it at the misconceptions.*** I know Disney channel is smarter than to just show one side of a story... you have to show the misconceptions to tell people the correct facts. :-)
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