Diabetes Support Group

Angela Baldauff

According to the Kentucky Health Facts as recorded in the Kenton County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, almost 12% of adults in Kenton County are living with diabetes.  To help them to know they are not alone, a Diabetes Educator from the Northern Kentucky Health Department leads a monthly support group. In Kenton County the Diabetes Educator contacted the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant from the Kenton County Cooperative Extension Service to teach the support group about healthy eating.  The SNAP-Ed NEP Assistant taught the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum at the monthly meetings held at the Erlanger Library.   Some of the people in the support group were pre-diabetic; some had diabetes; some were family members and caregivers of those with diabetes.  Most of the individuals in the support group were accustomed to reading labels to determine the number of carbohydrates in food, but they learned much more information from the seven-lesson Healthy Choices’ series.   The NEP Assistant taught them about food safety, meal planning, budgeting, and the importance of breakfast, and additional nutrition facts when reading labels.  By the end of the series, 45% of the participants had improved their Food Safety practices and 54% had improved in their Food Resource Management.   Eighty percent now plan meals more frequently before shopping.  The participants in the support group said, “This class is wonderful.  I have learned so much.  Please come back any time to teach us more!”