Grambling State University launches program to empower residents, students, and faculty to prevent type 2 diabetes

Grambling, LA – November 23, 2021 – Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Approximately 88 million American adults have prediabetes – and without taking action, many people with prediabetes can develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years. In partnership with Well-Ahead Louisiana, Grambling State University is launching a program to help students, faculty, and residents with prediabetes in northeast Louisiana prevent type 2 diabetes by offering virtual lifestyle change classes. The program, Change Your Lifestyle. Change Your Life. (CYL2) is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program. It teaches people how to incorporate healthy habits into daily life, cutting their risk for type 2 diabetes by more than half. The program also helps to reduce high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other chronic conditions.

“People can feel overwhelmed when they are diagnosed with prediabetes, but developing type 2 diabetes is preventable,” said Larry Proctor, Ph.D., CYL2 Coordinator at Grambling State University. “CYL2 provides participants with a support system, tools, and knowledge so they can feel empowered to make lifestyle changes that will help them lose weight and improve their overall health.”

Grambling State University conducts online orientations where people interested in the classes can learn more about the program and ask questions. An orientation will be held on Thursday, December 9, from 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

Student and adult class cohorts will begin in January 2022. People interested in participating in the classes must call 318-274-2294  to determine eligibility and register. The classes will meet online for one year. In the first four months of the program, classes will meet 16 times. In the final eight months of the program, classes will meet 12 more times to help participants maintain healthy lifestyle changes. CYL2 is covered by many insurance companies, including Medicare for those 65 and older. A limited number of scholarships are available for those without insurance coverage for the program.

CYL2 provides participants in the program with a trained lifestyle coach who teaches them how to make positive daily changes they can stick with. You will also have the support of others making positive lifestyle changes as well. The classes cover:

  • Shopping and cooking for health
  • Managing chronic stress
  • Understanding how emotions can trigger eating
  • Practicing self-care
  • Achieving weight goals during midlife
  • Staying motivated
  • Making good food choices away from home
  • Knowing what to do when weight loss stalls

With such serious consequences, preventing type 2 diabetes is a major public health concern. The good news is that prediabetes can be reversed by making healthier lifestyle decisions.
Having prediabetes increases your risk for severe health conditions like:

  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Blindness
  • Kidney failure
  • Loss of toes, feet, or legs

About Prediabetes

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 3 US adults have prediabetes – and most of those with prediabetes don’t know they have it. People at risk of prediabetes or type 2 diabetes:

    • Are overweight
    • Are 45 years of age or older
    • Have a parent or sibling that has type 2 diabetes
    • Are physically active fewer than 3 times per week
    • Gave birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds
    • Had diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes)

About CYL2
CYL2 is conducted in partnership with the Black Women’s Health Imperative (BWHI) through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since its inception in 2012, BWHI has expanded CYL2 to several cities throughout the United States. The goal of CYL2 is to inspire participants to sustain healthy lifestyle changes.

ABOUT THE BLACK WOMEN’S HEALTH IMPERATIVE

The Black Women’s Health Imperative is the only national organization dedicated to improving the health and wellness of the nation’s 21 million Black women and girls — physically, emotionally, and financially. It identifies the most pressing health issues and invests in the best of the best strategies, partners, and organizations that share their goal: ensuring Black women live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives.

ABOUT GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY

Grambling State University combines the academic strengths of a major university with the benefits of a small college, a combination that enables our students to grow and learn in a serene and positive environment. We offer more than forty (40) undergraduate and graduate degree and certificate programs through four colleges, including two professional schools and a graduate school. Additional academic support units include the University College, Earl Lester Cole Honors College, Continuing Education, and Service-Learning, and Army ROTC. National, regional, and local employers recruit graduates from Grambling’s excellent programs in nursing, computer science, teacher education, the arts, and other academic areas.

In addition to being one of the country’s top producers of African American graduates and the top producer of Computer Information Science grads in Louisiana, Grambling is the home of the World Famed Tiger Marching Band and the legendary college football coach Eddie Robinson, Sr., whose tenure is memorialized in a campus museum, funded and operated by the state of Louisiana. GSU is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Also listed on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail, Grambling State University is steeped in history, with a longstanding tradition of excellence, Grambling State University continues to emphasize the value and importance of each student, exemplified by our motto: Where Everybody Is Somebody.

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