The doll pairs a blue polka-dot outfit with an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor.
Barbie — with her tiny waist, long legs and eternally slender physique — has long looked the same. But over at least the last couple of decades, Mattel has responded to criticism of its unrealistic beauty standards by creating dolls that reflect a wider segment of society.
On Tuesday, the company continued that push with its newest doll: Barbie with Type 1 diabetes.
She is as fashionable as ever. She proudly displays her insulin pump, while wearing a polka-dotted outfit that matches her blue high-heeled boots and blue purse. She also has a pink continuous glucose monitor on her arm. The medical equipment is accurate and the print — blue circles — is a global symbol of diabetes awareness.
The company released the Barbie with Breakthrough T1D, an advocacy and research organization with the goal of finding a cure for diabetes.
Introducing a doll with Type 1 diabetes was part of Mattel’s “commitment to inclusivity and representation,” said Krista Berger, the company’s senior vice president of Barbie and global head of dolls, in a statement. She said that a Barbie with an insulin pump would help some children see themselves in the stories they imagine while playing.
Tens of millions of Americans have some form of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes the pancreas to make very little insulin or none at all.
Unlike Type 2 diabetes, which usually emerges slowly in adulthood and can sometimes be reversed early on with exercise and dietary changes, Type 1 often strikes in childhood or adolescence.
