A petition from a 13-year-old girl from Antigo, Wisconsin, led to American Girl creating a diabetes kit for their line of dolls.
The New York Times reported that Anja Busse created the petition because she wanted a diabetes kit like the one she has used since she learned she had Type 1 diabetes two years ago.
The petition gained thousands of signatures and the kit was released earlier this year.
The brand, which has a line of "Truly Me" dolls that are more modern than the traditional historical dolls the brand is known for, released the kit so that children with Type 1 diabetes can take care of their dolls the same way they are cared for.
Anja hopes the kit can help with educating her friends and other children about her disease.
"There are a lot of things people just don’t understand. They would try to give me advice and say I should be on a diet, or that they had a cure for this," Anja said. "One person yelled at me not to eat a cupcake. They confuse it with Type 2 diabetes, and all kinds of rumors that aren’t even true."
Type 2 diabetes is more common than Type 1, and happens when the body cannot properly use insulin. It can be prevented. Being inactive and overweight increases the risk of getting Type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes is genetic and cannot be prevented.
The kit comes with doll-sized equipment, including a logbook, an insulin pump that can be clipped to the doll's waistband, an insulin pen for dolls that don't use the pump, glucose tablets, a medical bracelet and ID card, among other items.
Reviews for the $24 kit have been largely positive.
"It's very important for kids particularly to feel accepted by the people around them," one grandmother wrote. "This diabetes care kit will go a long way in helping (my granddaughter) feel 'part of the gang' by giving her an opportunity to talk about and teach others about her diabetes."
One mother wrote that her daughter said she was "really happy that my Caroline can be just like me."
“American Girl has a longstanding history of creating dolls that speak to diversity and inclusion, so it’s not really new for us to come out with dolls that are a reflection of girls today,” Stephanie Spanos, a company spokeswoman, said.
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