Salida and Buena Vista have begun a Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). The program was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has been shown to prevent or delay Type 2 diabetes in people with prediabetes symptoms. Chaffee County Public Health (CCPH) offers a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program and will soon begin offering DPP classes at no cost.
We live in one of the healthiest counties and states in American but our current diabetes rate in Colorado would rank as the highest rate in America 30 years ago. Our county diabetes rate of 6.5 percent combined with national prediabetic statistics equate to classifying at least 20 percent of Chaffee County residents as being either diabetic or prediabetes.
Nationally, 30 million adults in the United States are diagnosed with diabetes and an estimated 80 million with prediabetes are at a greater risk of developing full diabetes.
Prediabetes is a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. Progression from prediabetes can take as little as five years.
Approximately 90 percent of those with prediabetes remain unscreened or undiagnosed. The following are several risk factors that increase a person’s risk of prediabetes:
- Being overweight
- Being physically active less than three times a week
- Having a parent or sibling with Type 2 diabetes
- Being over the age of 40
- Being a man
- If you’re female, having a history of gestational diabetes.
Click here to take an online risk test for prediabetes. A blood test can also confirm this information. For more information or to sign up, call 719-530-2572
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