For most diabetics, monitoring their daily food, blood glucose and carbohydrate intake is routine. But for those who are friends and family of diabetics, borderline diabetic or may have a history of diabetes in the family, they may not pay that close attention.
In Richland County, the Public Health Department and North Dakota State University Extension partner with the Dakota Medical Foundation, Family HealthCare Center, Altru Health System, First Care Health Center and Carrington Health Center to provide "Dining With Diabetes."
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This may sound daunting, but in the three years Flack and Svingen have offered the class, students have had more than positive things to say.
This program is for anyone and the group does range from severe diabetics to someone friends of a diabetics who want to further understand reasons why diabetics have to watch their food intake.
November is American Diabetes Month and the "Dining with Diabetes" program really helps bring that awareness.
Nationwide, 23.6 million people have diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. That is 7.8 percent of the population. Of that number, 17.9 million are diagnosed and 5.7 million are undiagnosed. Some consequences of unmanaged diabetes include heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, amputations and blindness. High blood pressure accompanies diabetes as does high cholesterol, according to the American Diabetes Association.
"Everyone that came out of the classes say, 'I learned so much just in one day,'" Svingen said. She and Flack said they really try to "beef up" the lessons by holding many food demonstrations, extra time on food safety and preparation. They keep participants moving and engaged, Flack said. Some lessons include information on meal planning, portion control, reading nutrition labels, carbohydrate content of foods to promote normal blood sugar levels, food fats to promote heart health and food demonstrations with testing.
The course is six weeks for a reason — it takes time for a person to change his or her behavior, Svingen said. To change, participants can use the class as an incentive to shoot for positive results.
Richland County is the only site in North Dakota that has had two sites for "Dining with Diabetes" since its inception in 2005. They hold classes in Wahpeton and Hankinson. Follow-up classes are held three months afterward.
While this class is focused mainly toward Type 2 diabetics, it applies to various stages — borderline, Type 1, those with family history of diabetes, pre-symptom diabetics, friends, family members and others. "It gives good information for both types," Svingen said.
However, Flack and Svingen strongly emphasized, "This program is not meant to replace medical and clinical care. It is meant to expand and enhance their own self care and knowledge of diabetes."
This year in Hankinson alone, Flack has 21 people in the class. Many are repeat attendees because they think the class is so informative, Flack said.
As the class progresses, those involved can track their progress by monitoring their glucose levels. At the beginning of the class, each participant takes a Hemoglobin A1C test, which gives a cumulative reading of the blood glucose for the last two to three months. Then toward the end, the test is administered again so participants can compare results and track progress.
"They learn about the test and we teach lab values," Flack said. Learning how to read the lab values or results increases one's knowledge on what the numbers mean and can help the patient set a goal.
A big part of the classes is the networking. Those dealing with diabetes, either personally or in the family or with friends, can continue to or better understand how to monitor. They can also learn how to prevent diabetes and better manage the disease.
Feedback from former participants stated the meals were well-balanced and easy to fix, most foods can be enjoyed in moderation and they liked hearing from and meeting others coping with diabetes.
At the Public Health Department, Flack helps those who come in with diabetes plan meals. First she'll have them record their food intake for one week. Based on the list the patient brings back, Flack will help them draw up a meal plan, which helps the patient see how many carbohydrates they each. Flack focuses on carbohydrates because they raise the blood glucose. As the meal plan progresses, the patient can compare the number of carbohydrates eaten to before. Usually a meal plan include two to three carb food choices at breakfast and three to four at lunch and supper each.
For more information on "Dining with Diabetes" you can contact the Richland County Health Department at 642-7735 or Richland County NDSU Extension at 642-7793. For more information about diabetes in general, visit http://www.diabetes.org.
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