• Posted July 9, 2025

Barbie's Latest Look? It Includes an Insulin Pump and Glucose Monitor

Barbie’s latest look includes a polka-dot crop top, chunky heels — and an insulin pump.

Mattel has released its first-ever Barbie with type 1 diabetes, complete with a glucose monitor, phone app and a purse packed with supplies. The goal? To help kids with diabetes feel seen — and to show that managing a health condition can be part of everyday life, without dimming personality or style, CNN reported.

The doll made her debut July 8 during the Breakthrough T1D Children’s Congress in Washington, D.C. The three-day event brings together young people with type 1 diabetes to meet with lawmakers. 

This year, they’re asking Congress to continue funding the Special Diabetes Program, which supports diabetes research and is set to end in September.

Breakthrough T1D said it’s watching closely to see if the funding will be cut, CNN said.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that usually starts in childhood. It happens when the body’s immune system attacks the pancreas, which makes insulin — a hormone that helps the body turn food into energy.

Without enough insulin, people have to take it daily through injections or an insulin pump to stay healthy.

Type 1 diabetes is different from type 2, where the body still makes insulin but doesn’t use it properly.

This new Barbie has a continuous glucose monitor on her arm, held in place with heart-shaped pink tape. A small insulin pump sits at her waist and her phone shows her blood sugar levels on an app.

The blue polka-dot dress is a nod to diabetes awareness, and her matching purse holds snacks and supplies, CNN reported.

One special detail: The blood sugar reading on Barbie’s phone is based on real numbers from Emily Mazreku, a Breakthrough T1D staff member who helped design the doll. The app reads 130 mg/dL — a healthy blood sugar level.

Mazreku, who lives with type 1 diabetes, spent nearly two years working on the doll’s design.

“Mattel approached us, and they wanted this to be a part of their Fashionista line,” Mazreku said. “And we jumped on that opportunity right away.”

Mattel’s Fashionista line now includes more than 175 dolls with different body types, skin tones and conditions. There’s a Barbie with vitiligo, one with a prosthetic leg and others with hearing aids or a cane.

The dolls are more than just toys, experts say.

When kids play with dolls designed with mobility challenges, it helps them understand what others go through, Sian Jones, co-founder of the Toy Box Diversity Lab in Scotland, told CNN. Jones studies how inclusive toys can reduce inequality.

She said children often create solutions to show real-world accessibility issues.

“Barbie in a wheelchair cannot use the doll’s house in their kindergarten classroom, so they have to build a ramp in order for her to be able to access the door to their doll’s house, for example,” Jones explained.

For Mazreku, helping design this Barbie was deeply personal, as she got to bring one home to her 3-year-old daughter.

“I brought Barbie home to her and gave her a chance to interact with her and see her things,” Mazreku said. “And she looked at me and she said, ‘She looks like Mommy.’ And that was so special for me.”

Her daughter doesn’t have type 1 diabetes, Mazreku said. “But she sees me every day, living with it, representing and understanding and showing the world and wearing my devices confidently, and for her to see Barbie doing that was really special," she told CNN.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on living with Type 1 diabetes.

SOURCE: CNN, July 9, 2025