People with diabetes are facing stigma and judgement, to the point where some avoid telling others about their health condition.

A new survey from Diabetes New Zealand has revealed the harsh comments made towards people with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes New Zealand CEO Heather Verry told Mike Hosking it can happen when someone's needing to take sugar to offset a medical emergency.

"They are being judged for sitting their eating sweets in front of you and the reality is they have to take that sweet intake and having people sitting there saying, 'well actually if you didn't eat so many sweets you wouldn't have diabetes' is actually really harsh."

LISTEN ABOVE AS HEATHER VERRY SPEAKS WITH MIKE HOSKING