Nearly 29 million Americans and an estimated one in 11 Iowans have some form of diabetes, and through National Diabetes Awareness Month, health officials are making an attempt to educate people about the risk factors. Nurse Lynn Fisher of Washington County Public Health says some of the primary factors that can contribute to getting diabetes include being over the age of 45, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle. Additionally, genetics plays a role in diabetes. People who have a family history are more at risk, as well as people of African, Latino, and Asian descent.

While some believe an over-indulgence of sugar can directly lead to diabetes, Fisher says that’s more or less an old wives’ tale. While healthy meal-planning is important because what you eat influences your blood-glucose level, she doesn’t believe there’s any sort of cause-and-effect between eating candy as a child and becoming a diabetic as an adult. In addition to those that have type 1, type 2, or gestational diabetes, health officials estimate one in three Iowa adults have prediabetes, a condition in which blood-glucose levels are high, but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2. Those with prediabetes can receive treatment to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. To find out if you are at risk of prediabetes or diabetes, take the diabetes risk test provided by the Iowa Department of Public Health by clicking on the link below.

https://doihaveprediabetes.org/