Diabetes, Legislation and Social Media As part of the Office of Disease Preventions and Health Promotion's Healthy People 2020 campaign, the issue of diabetes is receiving more attention. The federal government in fact has developed legislation that will address the need to face diabetes nationally: H.R. 2651 is a bill designed to amend the already existent Public Health Service Act to prevent and treat diabetes (HR 2651, 2015). Moreover, much research done of late has addressed this issue of diabetes and identified factors that cause diabetes -- such as obesity, lack of exercise, poor diet, etc. (Davis, 2008). At a grassroots level, there is a lot that can be done to raise awareness about diabetes, especially in the Digital Age, wherein social media is such a powerful platform for raising voices, connecting with people, and building a movement. Through this system, a grassroots campaign to address issues related to diabetes prevention and support for HR 2651 can be promoted and supported.

Raising support for the Public Health Service Act and the legislation...

One way to do that is spread the word about what causes diabetes. A good study that identified an inorganic diet as one of the main causes of diabetes is helpful in showing what can be done to help stop the spread of this epidemic (Davis, 2008). The outcome of this educational movement would be that advocates in schools -- especially in elementary and middle schools where children are susceptible to forming poor eating and exercise habits that will last a lifetime -- will go and teach classes, give presentations, and ignite the interest of all citizens young and old about what they can do to keep diabetes out of their lives.
Poor areas especially will have to be targeted as these are neighborhoods where playgrounds are deemed unsafe and poverty restricts households from consuming healthy diets. Programs that can be supported through local institutions like the YMCA can have a positive impact on these people: they can offer exercise programs like swimming and karate that are healthy, fun, free and that encourage and promote mindfulness about living and eating right.

Support for such programs would have to be generated among the public and the public could be accessed by using social media to inspire people to act. Social media is a tool that can help…