Nick JonasNick Jonas has said he’s proud to be a public face for diabetes because there wasn’t anyone for him to look up to when he was diagnosed.

The youngest Jonas Brother was diagnosed with the condition when he was just 13 years old, after experiencing sudden weight loss and behaviour changes.

Speaking at a press conference to promote a new awareness campaign on Wednesday, he explained: “I thought, ‘Why me?’ I didn’t know how to handle it.

“I didn’t know anyone with diabetes. There was no familiar face in music or sports that I could connect with … [but] I started to see it as an opportunity to be an inspiration to a generation that doesn’t openly talk about having diabetes and not feeling embarrassed by the disease.”

Nick is hoping to enlist fellow celebrity diabetes sufferers - including Halle Berry - to help spread awareness about the condition and offer encouragement to sufferers: “I remember when I was first diagnosed, I was like ‘I can do this.’ And then sometimes it became, ‘alright, I need somebody’s help,’ so I’d say, ‘Can you do my needle for me today?’ It’s ok to rely on other people and just be positive and keep going.”

“The biggest challenge is managing it before I go on stage. And making sure I keep a watch on my blood sugar throughout the day. It’s always very important. There are times when you can’t really help what happens to the sugar because part of it is kind of unpredictable.

“[But] to be able to live my dream by being in a band shows that anything is possible, even if you have diabetes.”