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Diabetes Basics:  Prevention

You can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes through a healthy lifestyle. Change your diet, increase your level of physical activity, maintain a healthy weight...with these positive steps, you can stay healthier longer and reduce your risk of diabetes.

Pre-Diabetes

Before people develop type 2 diabetes, they almost always have "pre-diabetes" -- blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. There are 57 million people in the United States who have pre-diabetes. Recent research has shown that some long-term damage to the body, especially the heart and circulatory system, may already be occurring during pre-diabetes.

Find out more: http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/pre-diabetes/

Who is at Greater Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

• People with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and/or impaired fasting glucose (IFG)
• People over age 45
• People with a family history of diabetes
• People who are overweight
• People who do not exercise regularly
• People with low HDL cholesterol or high triglycerides, high blood pressure
• Certain racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Non-Hispanic Blacks,
• Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and American Indians and Alaska Natives)
• Women who had gestational diabetes, or who have had a baby weighing 9 pounds or more at birth
  

Fitness

Exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle for everyone, and it's especially important for people with diabetes. But exercise doesn't necessarily mean running a marathon or bench-pressing 300 pounds. The goal is to get active and stay active by doing things you enjoy, from gardening to playing tennis to walking with friends. Here are some ideas for getting moving and making exercise part of your daily life: http://www.diabetes.org/food-and-fitness/fitness/

Check Up America

CheckUp America is an American Diabetes Association program working to help people lower their risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Learn more at http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/checkup-america/

Are You At Risk? 

Take the Test:  http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/diabetes-risk-test/