Join Other OSU Extension and Oklahoma Participants in Learning How to Make Healthy Changes in Your Community

Community members are preventing type 2 diabetes together with the Diabetes Prevention Program lifestyle change intervention offered virtually by OSU Extension. Guided by a trained lifestyle coach, groups of participants are learning the skills they need to make lasting changes such as losing a modest amount of weight, being more physically active, and managing stress.

People with prediabetes — higher-than-normal blood glucose (sugar) levels — are 5 to 15 times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with normal blood glucose levels. In fact, many people with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 3 years if they do not take steps to prevent it.

“One in three American adults has prediabetes, so the need for prevention has never been greater,” said Megan Anderson, OSU Extension Family and Consumer Sciences Educator in Seminole and Hughes County. “The OSU Extension’s Diabetes Prevention Program offers a proven approach to preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes through modest lifestyle changes made with the support of a coach and one’s peers.”

Participants learn how to eat healthy, add physical activity to their routine, manage stress, stay motivated, and solve problems that can get in the way of healthy changes. OSU Extension’s Diabetes Prevention Program groups meet virtually once a week for 16 weeks, then once a month for 6 months to maintain healthy lifestyle changes. The program’s group setting provides a supportive environment with people who are facing similar challenges and trying to make the same changes. Together participants celebrate their successes and find ways to overcome obstacles.

OSU Extension’s Diabetes Prevention Program is part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The local program will meet virtually on once a week and is no cost to participants.

OSU Extension’s Diabetes Prevention Program is based on research that showed that people with prediabetes who lost 5 to 7 percent of their body weight (10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person) by making modest changes reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent.

Nationwide implementation of the program could save the U.S. health care

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system $5.7 billion and prevent about 885,000 future cases of type 2 diabetes, a serious condition that can lead to health problems including heart attack; stroke; blindness; kidney failure; or loss of toes, feet, or legs.

“Small changes can add up to a big difference,” added Anderson. “Working with a trained lifestyle coach who provides guidance, OSU Extension’s Diabetes Prevention Program participants are making lasting changes together.”