Are you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes? Mather Hospital, 75 North Country Road, Port Jefferson will host a FREE year-long diabetes prevention program designed to help you modify your lifestyle to prevent the disease.
The National Diabetes Prevention Program, led by a trained lifestyle coach from the Suffolk County Department of Health, will be held at Mather Hospital beginning Monday, March 20 from 6 to 7:15 p.m. The program meets weekly until July 24, then bi-monthly through Sept. 25, then monthly from October 2023 through March 2024.
Participants are identified through their health care provider by either their fasting glucose 100-124 or their A1c 5.7-6.4. In addition, they must have a BMI of 25 or more and be over the age of 18. Participants cannot have diabetes or be pregnant. Participants may also qualify by taking either the CDC or ADA risk test at https://www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/takethetest/ or https://diabetes.org/diabetes/risk-test
“We want to have them change behaviors to get these numbers back into the normal range,’ said Senior Public Health Educator Debora Rippel. “We do that by having them lose 5-7 percent of their body weight and increase their physical activity to 150 minutes per week. In addition, they develop new behaviors (weighing and measuring food, reading food labels, choosing low-fat, low-calorie options/substitutions, among other behaviors). We look at the environmental, psychological, and social aspects of their behaviors and help them identify ways to change them.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control 96 million Americans – or one in three adults – have prediabetes. Of those, more than eight in 10 are unaware that they have it. Without taking any action, 15-30 percent of people with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within five years. For every 2.2 pounds of weight an individual loses, their risk of developing type 2 diabetes is lowered by 13 percent, according to the national program.
More information on the program at https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/about.htm To register, contact Debora at the Suffolk County Department of Health at 631-853-2928 or [email protected] .
