Director's Blog
Health Marketing Musings
from Jay M. Bernhardt, PhD, MPH
This week, I'm proud to mention a recent success in disseminating a much needed CDC health message at one of our nation's most prestigious museums, the Smithsonian. The original artwork from the Eagle Books series developed for children by CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation will be exhibited at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and New York City through January 4, 2009. The exhibition, "Through the Eyes of the Eagle: Illustrating Healthy Living for Children," represents the first time the museum has ever featured an exhibition to address health issues that face Native Americans. Though the book series focuses on Native American children, it speaks to all children and their parents about a health issue that increasingly threatens our kids: diabetes.
It's a sad truth that, like the conversation about drugs, diabetes has become a conversation we need to have with our children. Two years ago, CDC published 2001 data that showed that, among children younger than 20, about 1 in 523 were diagnosed with diabetes. The data also showed that Native American children had the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes, at nearly 1 in 500. Yet, despite this high prevalence, parents don't necessarily know they need to have a conversation about diabetes with their children or even how to speak about the disease. For example, should a parent mention the name of the disease? Will talk of diabetes unnecessarily alarm a child? Unfortunately, parents have very little guidance to turn to about diabetes prevention in children.
To respond to this lack and to the higher burden of diabetes among Native Americans, the Division of Diabetes Translation partnered with the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee and the Indian Health Service to develop the Eagle Books series. The author, Georgia Perez, a community health representative in the Nambe Pueblo in New Mexico, created a world of wise animals who engage the Native American boy, Rain That Dances, and his friends in the joy of physical activity and eating healthy foods. One of the animals, Mr. Eagle, assumes the role of tribal elder and uses storytelling to teach lessons about health and diabetes prevention.
The illustrators, Patrick Rolo of the Bad River Band of Ojibwe of Wisconsin, and Lisa A. Fifield of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin, created vibrant and attractive watercolor illustrations to complement the messages about physical activity and healthy foods. And those messages are the strength of the series. You see, the books don't shy away from using the word diabetes. But, because the messages are specific about the kinds of physical activity that kids can engage in and about the kinds of healthy food choices kids can make, they empower kids to take charge of their own health.
For the Division of Diabetes Translation, having the original artwork for the Eagle Books exhibited at Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is only one success in their ongoing effort to raise awareness about diabetes in children. Already, two million Eagle Books have been distributed in the United States and abroad. The campaign also includes coloring books based on the books, and the series has been animated. The English language versions are accessible at CDC-TV, and the series is now available on DVD in several languages, including Chickasaw, Paiute, Shoshone, and Spanish. Podcasts of the books are also available. And a related Web site, the Eagle's Nest, offers kids a place to find fun and relevant health and diabetes information.
Ultimately, preventing diabetes in our children is critical. Diabetes isn't just one child's health problem, it's everyone's health problem.
Posted by Jay on Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 2:00pm ET
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