From fried foods to sugary sweet, the holiday season gives many the chance to over indulge on their favorite treats.
However according to the most recent data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, in 2013, approximately nine percent of the Louisiana population have to watch their blood glucose after being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. Geraldine McCloud, an African-American type-2 diabetic for 21 years, said diabetes has been a part of her everyday life and makes an effort to get educated on her disease.
“When becoming a diabetic, and I think it’s true, you can everything that a normal person without diabetes can eat. You just got to eat it in smaller portions,” McCloud said. “I’ve been a diabetic since ’94 and I walk, I go seminars …show more content…
Glenda Johnson, nutritionist at Southern University Baton Rouge, said that one reason that the diabetes rate may be so high in Louisiana especially in the African-American community is that education is not widespread about chronic diseases.
“There is not much emphasis in New Orleans on eating and there are no safe areas for exercise and recreational activities for health, but the major things is that people are not pushing away from the table. And that is a generational …show more content…
On Nov. 30, as a part of Diabetes Awareness Month, Dillard University’s Office of Community and Church relations and the First District Ministry Baptist Association sponsored an event to help people become more informed about diabetes and how to manage it.
Nick Harris, the event coordinator, said that interacting with the community and making an effort to close the education gap is key. “By bringing the services directly to the neighborhood is very effective, so that people can see what’s going on around them and get them the education they need,” Harris said.
S. Epatha Merkerson, “Law and Order” and “Chicago M.D.” actress, is currently touring around the country as a part of the Merck and the American Diabetes Association’s American Diabetes Challenge.
She visited New Orleans in October to speak to the African-American community about her experiences with diabetes and encourage others share their experiences as well.
“Why not? Why not be a part of something that will help change their lives. I’m not just a mount piece. I’m someone that people can relate too because they know I’m struggling just as they are,” Merkerson
However according to the most recent data provided by the Centers for Disease Control, in 2013, approximately nine percent of the Louisiana population have to watch their blood glucose after being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. Geraldine McCloud, an African-American type-2 diabetic for 21 years, said diabetes has been a part of her everyday life and makes an effort to get educated on her disease.
“When becoming a diabetic, and I think it’s true, you can everything that a normal person without diabetes can eat. You just got to eat it in smaller portions,” McCloud said. “I’ve been a diabetic since ’94 and I walk, I go seminars …show more content…
Glenda Johnson, nutritionist at Southern University Baton Rouge, said that one reason that the diabetes rate may be so high in Louisiana especially in the African-American community is that education is not widespread about chronic diseases.
“There is not much emphasis in New Orleans on eating and there are no safe areas for exercise and recreational activities for health, but the major things is that people are not pushing away from the table. And that is a generational …show more content…
On Nov. 30, as a part of Diabetes Awareness Month, Dillard University’s Office of Community and Church relations and the First District Ministry Baptist Association sponsored an event to help people become more informed about diabetes and how to manage it.
Nick Harris, the event coordinator, said that interacting with the community and making an effort to close the education gap is key. “By bringing the services directly to the neighborhood is very effective, so that people can see what’s going on around them and get them the education they need,” Harris said.
S. Epatha Merkerson, “Law and Order” and “Chicago M.D.” actress, is currently touring around the country as a part of the Merck and the American Diabetes Association’s American Diabetes Challenge.
She visited New Orleans in October to speak to the African-American community about her experiences with diabetes and encourage others share their experiences as well.
“Why not? Why not be a part of something that will help change their lives. I’m not just a mount piece. I’m someone that people can relate too because they know I’m struggling just as they are,” Merkerson