North Central Health District

Macon-Bibb County Health Department to Offer CDC Diabetes Prevention Program

Posted December 6, 2022 by Michael Hokanson

Macon-Bibb County Health Department (MBCHD) is offering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Diabetes Prevention Recognition Program.

The health department encourages those who meet the requirements to enroll to learn healthy lifestyle changes that will improve health and lower the risk of developing diabetes.

The program is a year-long series that includes 23 sessions geared towards teaching participants how to make changes to help lower their risk of developing diabetes while promoting healthy weight loss. The program is for people classified as prediabetic — meaning their blood sugar level is above normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic — to help combat the risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

To participate in a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program, patients will need to meet ALL 4 of these requirements:

• Be 18 years or older.
• Have a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or higher (23 or higher if Asian American).
• Not be previously diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.
• Not be pregnant.

Why it works:

Clinical trials showed that completing this lifestyle change program reduced program participants’ chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% compared to placebo (71% for individuals aged 60 and older), nearly twice as much as the reduction among the group taking metformin (31%).

A 10-year follow-up study showed that participants were still one-third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes a decade later than individuals who took a placebo. Those who did develop type 2 diabetes delayed the onset of the disease by about 4 years.

Diabetes Facts:

• Approximately 1 Million people (12.4%) in Georgia have a diagnosis of diabetes with an additional 230,000 people with diabetes but are unaware.
• Between 2014 and 2018, diabetes was the cause for 104,098 hospitalizations and 154,761 ER visits in Georgia.
• There are over 2 million Georgians who have prediabetes, a condition that can be prevented from becoming full diabetes through weight loss, increased physical activity, and better nutrition.

Classes will begin in February 2023.

To enroll and learn more information, please contact Joy Harris at (478) 749-0139 and/or joy.harris@dph.ga.gov.