Dilemma With Diabetes

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  Wai’anae, HI
  
  August 29, 2014
  
  For Wai’anae High School Senior Mylea Saga-Moore, making her favorite afternoon snack is not as simple as it used to be. She sits among her peers, each with their food of choice - fast food, lunchables, and school lunch. Unfortunately, Mylea doesn’t have much freedom when it comes to food. She’s not alone in the in her struggle, though - approximately one in four teens are fighting the battle of diabetes every day.
  
  Approximately twenty thousand teenagers in the United States are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is primarily caused by poor eating habits. For many teenagers, such as Mylea Saga-Moore, it was easy to get carried away with the junk food.
  
  “I LOVE to eat fast food. That was, it’s a weakness. I think everybody needs a little handholding on the way up and I think sometimes the adolescents don’t get enough of somebody that really cares enough about them,” she said.
  
  Fortunately, there is a solution in Wai’anae. Waiola Clinic, a medical office designed specifically for teens, is going to become available. Visitors are kept confidential, and students can seek guidance, therapy, education, and general wellness at the clinic. The teen clinic is expected to open before the end of the year, offering services beyond health care, such as computer access, counseling, and an overall safe environment for teens to hang out. It’s easy to access and available during all days of the week.
  
  “Not all teens have a strong network of people that they feel comfortable talking to and if they had a place they could go to where they felt that they were respected and that their views were going to be kept private, they would maybe be more willing to seek the care that they need. That they deserve,” says Vija Seghal, director of pediatrics at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.
  
  Until then, Mylea will rely on the support of her peers to help her manage the disease one blood test at a time.
  
  “Now we’re at a point in time where I’m learning about it now, I know what I need to do right now, and what I need to do to fix things and I can’t really take back what I did.”