A recent "scoop" about chareidim consisted of sensationalist
headlines that the diabetes rate among the chareidi
population is thirty per cent more than that of the general
population. Not only is the story wrong, but the truth is
precisely the opposite!
"Chareidim have the Highest Rate of Diabetes," the headline
of a popular Israeli newspaper read. In an article concerning
World Diabetes Day (November 14) it was reported that, "`the
rate of diabetes in the chareidi sector is thirty per cent
higher than that of the general population, but chareidim
choose not to treat it,' Israeli specialists say."
The regular readers of the non-religious media are apparently
prepared to believe any fabricated scandal about chareidim
(who are, as you no doubt remember, the most hated group in
the State of Israel according to opinion surveys), and never
imagined that this was a journalistic canard, at the very
least. This time the latest scoop about chareidim is not only
fictitious with absolutely no basis in fact, but it is also a
complete distortion of the truth!
It is unclear where the journalist acquired the astonishing
statistics about which he wrote in a sensationalist article
(journalists often do not divulge their source of
information). What is undisputable is that this piece of
information only existed in someone's fertile imagination.
First, no study has ever been done which reports these
findings. Second, a recent research paper totally contradicts
it.
A similar tale was forwarded a while ago to the Hebrew
Yated Ne'eman's medical column. However the tale
sounded vague and the staff's professional feeling was that
the information was unreliable. After checking things out we
discovered that the exact opposite was the case; chareidim
suffer less from diabetes!
A statistical study which was performed by Maccabi Healthcare
Services was published last Tammuz (July 2006) to mark the
inauguration of the Maccabi Hashalom Center in Tel Aviv. A
comparative study was made of the health of people living in
the various cities of the Gush Dan area. The cities included
in the study were Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Holon, Givatayim and
Bnei Brak. Bnei Brak, is a large city and the only chareidi
one researched. We can, therefore, presume that the figures
indicate the rate of illness among the chareidi sector as
opposed to the general populace.
The statistics show that the rates of heart disease, diabetes
and high blood pressure in Bnei Brak are lower than for the
other cities. Incidentally, the average number of visits to
family physicians or pediatricians is significantly lower in
Bnei Brak as compared to the other cities. These are the
facts, but when a journalist has a negative story about
chareidim, who bothers to verify stories?
