Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 95 percent of all diabetes cases and is a major public health problem worldwide. It costs the healthcare industry billions of dollars a year to treat. During November, designated National Diabetes Month, national attention is focused on this critical issue.

Jeffrey Katula, assistant professor of health and exercise science at Wake Forest University, can comment on diabetes prevention programs and the most effective models for reducing the risk for Type 2 diabetes in the U.S.

“Diabetes prevention programs need to be community-based, cost-effective and easily accessible for people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds,” Katula says. “There should be a diabetes prevention program on every corner in every town throughout the U.S. Such programs have great potential for reducing the vast health disparities associated with the diabetes epidemic.”

Katula is leading the Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD) project with the goal of translating diabetes prevention interventions as well as diabetes self-management interventions that have been successful in clinical settings into community settings.

“Research has shown that if you take people who are at risk for diabetes and get them to lose weight through lifestyle changes, or physical activity and diet, you can reduce their incidence for diabetes by about 58 percent. Many studies have found that you can get people to lose about 8-10 percent of their body weight in six months through weekly contact. Getting people to maintain those changes is the essence of the problem. A community-based model works to reduce costs as well as empower people to utilize existing resources, and make the small changes in their life that are easier to maintain.”