The accuracy of the “180 decisions a day” statistic is somewhat questionable. Stanford University blog post Studies show that people with diabetes make this many health decisions every day. And the quote stuck. It became legendary. It's overused. I've used it. An entire diabetes awareness campaign was built around it (I co-designed it), and I can't count the number of times this statistic has appeared in presentation slide decks.
But where is the evidence to back up this particular number? Nobody knows. It's murky.
Yes, it matters, but it also matters not so much. Accuracy matters (and no one knows how important that is more than those who give insulin). But so does how we interpret what the numbers tell us. They tell us that people with diabetes are faced with so many things in their daily lives, so many decisions that people without diabetes don't have to think about. 180 extra decisions, 120 extra decisions, 50 extra decisions, those numbers are… extra.
While you can count and record the specific decisions you make each day – when, where, why and how to do things that affect your diabetes – there are some decisions you can't count: the constant, fundamental decisions you make every minute of every day.
Daily life We decide to liveWe decide to live and act, no matter what the challenges. We choose to live. Sometimes, obstacles stand in our way that make that choice nearly impossible – the cost of diabetes, lack of access to healthcare, technology, medicines and support. But despite that, every time we live, something We are making the decision to live with diabetes using all the tools available to us to manage it, treat it, and think about it.
Those choices are not a privilege people with diabetes are given. And because it is a part of our lives, it has become normal and part of our daily lives. But I think it's worth acknowledging. The effort it takes to make decisions to choose your life over and over again is truly astounding. You may not know exactly how many decisions you make each day, but who cares?
At the end of the day, diabetes is about more than just numbers. We keep telling you that.