During the American Diabetes Month this November, the American Diabetes Association is continuing its efforts to stop diabetes by challenging local residents to begin living a healthier lifestyle through the America Gets Cooking to Stop Diabetes campaign, presented by Sun Life Financial.
This initiative is designed to engage and empower the public to cook nutritious and delicious food and encourage them to be more active. Through social media and an interactive landing page on DiabetesForecast.org, the Association will share healthy cooking tips, diabetes and nutrition facts, recipes and more, as well as ideas on how to raise funds to help Stop Diabetes in communities across the country.
“Nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States are living with diabetes,” stated Doug Bickford, Executive Director of Iowa/Nebraska/South Dakota Markets.
“Cooking healthfully and staying active can be a challenge, but these are key components to managing diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes. Our goal for American Diabetes Month and beyond is to show Americans that it’s not too late to start living a healthy active lifestyle and you can even have fun while doing it.”
American Diabetes Month Facts and Figures
Prevalence
Nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. Another 86 million Americans have prediabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Recent estimates project that as many as one in three American adults will have diabetes in 2050 unless we take steps to Stop Diabetes.
The Toll on Health
Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults. The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes. About 60-70 percent of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction and other nerve problems.
Cost of Diabetes
The American Diabetes Association estimates that the total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $245 billion. Direct medical costs reach $176 billion and the average medical expenditure among people with diabetes is 2.3 times higher than those without the disease. Indirect costs amount to $69 billion (disability, work loss, premature mortality). One in 10 health care dollars is spent treating diabetes and its complications. One in five health care dollars is spent caring for people with diabetes.
For great tips, recipes and more each week, visit the Association's interactive web page at www.diabetesforecast.org/ADM. To learn more, visit the American Diabetes Association on Facebook or call 1-800-DIABETES.