Program Offers Help To People with Diabetes to "Make a Change for Life"
(West Chester, PA) - Chester County Hospital in West Chester, PA is bringing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Diabetes Prevention Program (NDPP) to Chester County, PA through funding provided by the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
One out of three adults lives with prediabetes, most of which are unaware of the condition. In Pennsylvania, this is about 3.3 million adults. If you have prediabetes, you are 5 to 15 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with normal blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. However, type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with a healthy lifestyle, as evidenced through the NDPP.
This FREE program designed by the CDC will help those at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle by eating right, increasing physical activity and losing a modest amount of weight. The group will meet regularly for 16 weeks, and then participants will meet monthly for additional support to help maintain their progress. This maintenance period aims to keep participants on track to a healthy lifestyle.
In a classroom setting, a trained lifestyle coach from Chester County Hospital will facilitate a small group of participants in learning about behavior changes over 16 one-hour sessions. Topics include healthier eating, getting started with physical activity, overcoming stress, staying motivated and more. Sessions will be held on Mondays from 6:30 to 7:30 pm beginning June 10, 2013. The program will be held at the Hospital's Wellness Classroom located at 600 E. Marshall St., Suite 302. To qualify for the NDPP, a person must be at high risk for developing diabetes or have been diagnosed by a physician as someone with prediabetes.
To participate in the NDPP, a person must be overweight and have prediabetes or be at high risk. One does not necessarily need a doctor's referral. Prediabetes is determined by one of the following blood test results:
- Fasting plasma glucose between 100-125 mg/d
- A1c between 5.7% and 6.4%
- 2-hour plasma glucose between 140 to 199 mg/dl
In addition, a combination of risk factors such as family history, being overweight or obese, gestational diabetes and inactivity may also put a person at risk, therefore making them eligible for the NDPP too.
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