1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"India's Diabetes Paradox" by Jason Gale.
(See the story and the video on the web.)
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
December 2010 edition of Bloomberg Markets magazine.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
"India's Diabetes Paradox" shows how the epidemic affecting more than 50 million Indians is holding back the nation as people ascend into the 400 million-strong middle class. Diabetes, a disease of overeating and inactivity, will kill 1 million Indians this year, even as a fifth of the population remains plagued by hunger. Gale's exclusive reporting explains the paradox of how poor maternal nutrition primes developing babies for a life of deprivation. Then, as Indians rise out of poverty, their bodies can't cope with better food and less exercise. This hypothesis shoots down the conventional thinking that poorer people have worse lifestyles so they bring diabetes on themselves.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Gale relied on more than 30 medical studies published in scientific journals, and dozens of reports from government and United Nations agencies, most of which were found on the Internet.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Gale traveled widely in India for the story and spoke over the telephone with more than 60 doctors, researchers and United Nations officials in 13 countries. In India, he met with diabetes patients living in the slums of Mumbai and in one of the city's largest public hospitals, as well as in Bangalore and rural Karnataka state. He also met face-to-face with doctors, government authorities and United Nations agency representations in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, New York and Singapore.
6. Results (if any).
The story, published by newspapers in the U.S., Argentina, Philippines and Jordan, spurred dozens of emails from doctors, researchers, UN agency officials and patients. It prompted discussions on the American Public Media's Marketplace radio program, and was discussed at an international meeting of medical authorities on emerging public threats in Singapore. Leaders of the World Health Organization and International Diabetes Federation praised the story in letters to Bloomerg.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
There were no complaints of errors and no corrections.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
The idea for the story came when Gale visited a diabetic foot clinic in rural Karnataka state. He was struck by how young, thin and comparatively physically active the men and women suffering diabetic foot ulcers there were. These weren't overweight urbanites living off fast-food. The doctors had no explanation for what appeared to be a paradox. The story was Gale's attempt to understand a medical mystery and came about by meeting people face to face and observing what was going on with his own eyes. He would encourage other reporters to do the same — to be led by personal observations, and not rely only on telephone interviews and reports available on the Net.