I agree and disagree. I bet they are malnourished. However, it's not the carbs, it's the carbs and fat. It's also the high probabiity that they are eating processed carbs rather than whole foods such as potatoes and beans. You can eat that stuff, but you can't slather it with butter or fry it up, even with olive oil.
Diabetic 10 years, did low carb forever w/moderate results. Best and fastest improvements in weight and blood sugar have been with low fat vegan. And in the end, the low fat, no cholesterol way of eating will be better for my heart, since heart disease is what kills most diabetics anyway.
My husband is diabetic and I had to stop frying everything. On a rare rare occassion I will fry some fries for the kids, but only in the heart healthy oil (as heart healthy as you can get in oil). The only thing I had trouble with was cube steak (we eat the turkey cube steak) and knowing how to make it taste good without frying. I started using cream of mushroom soup, 98% fat free and baking it. It is really good over brown rice!