News

Diabetes Awareness Day: Creating Awareness and Enhancing Knowledge

The New Haven community convened at the Dixwell-Yale University Community Learning Center, also known as The Rose Center, on November 12 to learn how to prevent and manage diabetes for themselves and their children. 

The event was Diabetes Awareness Day, sponsored by CARE: Community Alliance for Research and Engagement.  CARE is part of the Yale Center of Clinical Investigation.

Panelists address New Haven community

“CARE is committed to improving health in New Haven through engagement activities such as Diabetes Awareness Day, as well as conduct and translation of research to bring findings from bench to bedside to community,” said Jeannette Ickovics, Ph.D., Director of CARE.  “In public health, one goal is to insure that research findings reach the very people who can benefit most. We are proud to be building strong community-university partnerships to promote health in New Haven.”  Ickovics is also professor and head of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Program at Yale School of Public Health.

Diabetes is a chronic disease characterized by high levels of sugar in the blood which, if left unmanaged, can have devastating consequences.  Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.  Currently, 20.8 million children and adults are living with the disease, and diabetes incidence is growing rapidly along with the burgeoning obesity epidemic.  In New Haven, about 8% of residents report having diabetes, which is a higher percentage than the rest of Connecticut.

The afternoon hosted two expert panels that addressed how to prevent the development of diabetes and how to manage diabetes once it has been diagnosed. 

The prevention panel stressed that to prevent the development of diabetes, weight management is key.  The panelists emphasized that simple things can be done instead of going on a strict diet, such as eating in moderation, watching portion sizes and having a well-balanced diet.  “Making better choices is setting yourself up for long-term success,” said Mary Savoye, a registered dietician who runs a weight management program for children.  “Diabetes is the door,” she remarked.  “Every pound you gain is stepping closer to that door.  Every pound you lose is a step away.”  Some simple tips that were given: instead of drinking soda, drink diet soda; instead of drinking juice, drink water with Crystal Light in it.  Most importantly, instead of watching television, go outside and get physical activity.

Chef Lucky demonstrates healthy cooking

Karen Dorsey, M.D., Ph.D., told the community that you should be screened for diabetes every two to three years, especially if members of your family already have the disease.  “Diabetes can happen to anyone with risk factors,” she stated.  Children who have a family history of diabetes and are overweight are extremely at risk for developing the disease.  While stating that it is important to have a conversation about how to prevent diabetes with your physician and your child’s physician, all the panelists agreed that prevention starts at home.

“Children do not shop,” Savoye said.  It is important to buy good, healthy food for everyone in the family.  Savoye said that if you have one thin child and one overweight child, both children would benefit from a fruit dessert rather than a piece of chocolate.  Green vegetables are a healthier choice as a side dish rather than potatoes.  She asked the audience if it is sugar that brings your blood sugar up.  The answer is “any type of carbohydrate” can raise your blood sugar level.

Ickovics asked the prevention panelists to each give a take away tip.  They are as follows:

• Make good food choices and make sure your children are getting enough physical activity;
• Be physically active.  The better you feel, the better choices you will make regarding what you eat;
• See your health care provider.  Get the diabetes screening and get the blood test done.  Diabetes is silent.  You could be worse then you think; and
• Find one thing that you/your family are doing that can really be changed.  Take it step by step.

Following the prevention panel, Chef Larry Lucky demonstrated how to cook several healthy dishes like poached salmon and fruit pizza.  He also gave healthy cooking tips to the engaged audience.  Chef Lucky provided shopping tips, suggesting that you look at the ingredients of what you are buying.  If salt is the main ingredient, put the item back on the shelf.  Chef Lucky said that salt is fine to cook with but keep salt off of the dining room table.  He also stressed eating in moderation, “You can have fried food every now and then…but do it in moderation.”

CARE’s Diabetes Awareness Day included a community walk on the Farmington River Canal with Bob Kilpatrick of Hill Health Center, as well as blood sugar screenings and risk assessments overseen by Erin Rupee of the Fair Haven Community Health Center.  Students from Stone Academy, Haven Free Clinic as well as the Yale Schools of Public Health, Medicine and Nursing volunteered their time to conduct these health screenings. Information booths were staffed by those at local organizations, including Bayer, Bright Bodies Program, Fair Haven Community Health Center, Hill Health Center, Neighborhood Diabetes, Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center.

For further information about diabetes including symptoms and tips on how to stay healthy, please read the CARE newsletter and visit the CARE Web site.

-Story by Marcie Foley