Get Healthy Carson City: National Diabetes Awareness Month

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month and Carson City Health and Human Services is here to inform you of ways to prevent and recognize signs of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects the way your body turns food into energy and because this is a long-lasting health condition, it is important to know how to stay diabetes free.

Before getting into preventative strategies, let's talk about what diabetes is, what the difference is between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, and why we are talking about preventing type 2 diabetes.

According to the CDC, those with type 1 diabetes are usually diagnosed at a very young age but could be diagnosed at any age. It is caused by an autoimmune attack, which means your body attacks itself by mistake. The autoimmune attack causes your body to not make enough insulin, which then requires a person to have to take insulin for the rest of their life. At this point in time, there are strategies to prevent a person from getting type 1 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body does not maintain your insulin well and it does not allow your blood sugar levels to maintain at normal range. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in older adults and takes years to develop, but it has been seen more and more in younger children. That is why, this month, we are promoting ways you can prevent your children from becoming prediabetic and furthermore getting diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Nevada uses a statewide program called 5-2-1-0 to get kids more familiar with making healthy choices and creating healthy habits. What does 5-2-1-0 mean?

5 stands for the five daily servings of fruits and vegetables that should be incorporated into a child’s regular diet. Within the 5-2-1-0 program, you are shown ways to incorporate more fruits and veggies into your children’s meals and make them more appealing to younger children. Including vegetables and fruits in an appealing way to young ones is a strategy that this program uses to help parents incorporate more color to their kids’ plates.

2 stands for a two-hour limit on screen time. As technology becomes more prevalent, children tend to stay inside rather than enjoying the outdoors. Limiting screen time to two hours will allow your children to get into different hobbies and increase the time available for playing with friends, siblings, or peers. Another idea is to use the two hours of screen time for a chance to create a family movie night for the weekends. Let them know that it is not a punishment, and if they are having a hard time with the adjustment help them find healthy hobbies that fit them.

1 stands for one hour or more of physical activity. Crossing this one off the list has an endless number of opportunities. There are many things you can do as a family to get that hour of physical time in as well as individual sports and hobbies. Joining an afterschool sport, walking the family dog, and riding your bikes to the park are just a couple of ways to get physical activity accomplished.

0 stands for zero sugary drinks. Sugary drinks have become a huge problem in our communities. Our grocery stores are filled with bright colorful bottles of sodas, juices, and energy drinks, all of which contain up to 39 grams of sugar per drink. After drinking just one of these drinks, your daily sugar intake is already over the recommended amount.

Eliminating a bad habit like having sugary drinks around the house will promote a healthier lifestyle. The 5-2-1-0 program has tips and ideas of how to make sure you get these four steps included into your lives. For information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/prc/study-findings/nutrition_physical-activity.html.

For information about services and programs available to you through Carson City Health and Human Services, visit our website at Carson City - Health | Home HHS (gethealthycarsoncity.org), follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/cchhs, like us on twitter @CCHealthEd, follow us on Instagram @GetHealthCarsonCity, or call us at 775-887-2190. You can also find us at 900 E. Long St., in Carson City.