Local Impact - Iowa

Becky Youngbear-Alvarado, Meskwaki

Meskwaki Diabetes Prevention Program

"Being diagnosed with pre-diabetes was the wake up call I needed to focus on making healthy changes to prevent diabetes."
- Becky Youngbear-Alvarado

It’s been almost 3 years since I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes by the Meskwaki Diabetes Prevention Program. I knew I was overweight but not aware that I was at high risk of getting diabetes if I didn’t change my lifestyle. The program not only provided me with a wake up call to change what I was eating to prevent diabetes, they gave me the knowledge and skills I needed to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle. As a result of my participation in the Diabetes Prevention Program, I have lost 23 pounds and my blood sugars are back in the normal range. The healthy changes I have made to prevent diabetes are also having a tremendous impact on the health of my family. Even beyond my family, people in the community will stop me and ask me how I’ve been able to lose weight. I always tell them that I found out I had pre-diabetes, joined the Diabetes Prevention Program, and slowly and in a healthy way, I lost the weight and have been able to prevent diabetes.

Almost 3 years later, the staff is still monitoring my health monthly. I know I’m fortunate to have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes because it made me eligible to join the Diabetes Prevention Program. What’s difficult is that there are so many people in our community who do not have pre-diabetes and do not qualify for this special program. This a life saving program that should be open to anyone who wants to prevent diabetes, as well as for those who want to learn how to get better control of their diabetes.

Diabetes in Iowa

According to 2008 CDC data, approximately 160,000 people in Iowa – 6.3% of the state’s population – had diagnosed diabetes, and many of them suffer from serious diabetes complications or conditions. In addition to the human toll diabetes places on people in Iowa, the financial burden diabetes places on the health system in the state is staggering – in 2007, the direct and indirect costs of diabetes in Iowa was approximately $1.47 billion.

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