Have you ever been told by a health care professional that you are at risk for getting diabetes? Have prediabetes? Have borderline diabetes? Have high blood sugar or glucose? Had gestational diabetes?
If so, you may be interested in making a change for life. You can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes.
More than 30 million U.S. adults have diabetes. At least one out of three people will develop diabetes in their lifetime. Medical costs for people with diabetes are twice as high as for people without diabetes. Risk of death for adults with diabetes is 50% higher than for adults without diabetes. Get more facts about diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes risk factors include having prediabetes with blood sugar levels being higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes; being overweight; being 45 years old or older; having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes; being physically active less than three times a week; and having gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds.
Race and ethnicity also matter, as African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk for type 2 diabetes.
You can lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes by losing a small amount of weight if you’re overweight and getting regular physical activity. A small amount of weight loss means around 5-7% of your body weight, just 10-14 pounds for a 200-pound person. Regular physical activity means getting at least 150 minutes a week of brisk walking or a similar activity. That’s just 30 minutes a day, five days a week.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention led National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you make a change for life. This program helps you learn how to change your lifestyle to prevent type 2 diabetes. Our group will meet for 16 one-hour weekly sessions and six-monthly follow-up sessions.
During this program you will learn ways to incorporate healthier eating and moderate physical activity into your daily life. We will work to identify and overcome barriers to making sustainable lifestyle changes. The program is free; however, in order to qualify for the program you must be 18 years of age, be overweight, have established risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes, or have been diagnosed with prediabetes in the past year or had gestational diabetes.
If you are interested in attending this program or for more information, contact Heather Winn, at the OSU Cooperative Extension Service in Cherokee County by phone at 918-456-6163 or email at [email protected].
Heather Winn is family and consumer sciences educator for the OSU Cooperative Extension Service in Cherokee County.
