Fotonovela Tells How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes | CDC Features

Fotonovela Tells How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes | CDC Features

Type 2 Diabetes Prevention & Family History

CDC information: Anyone over 45 years should consider getting tested for diabetes, especially if overweight. If you are younger than 45, but are overweight & have a parent, brother or sister w diabetes, you should consider getting tested
CDC fotonovela to learn simple steps to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, especially if you have a family history of the condition
CDC National Registry of Recognized Diabetes Prevention Programs: Can be used by health care providers to refer patients to a local program; and to also help people who want to make a lifestyle change to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Fotonovela Tells How to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Read this fotonovela to learn simple steps to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes, especially if you have a family history of the condition. Care for your family by caring for yourself first.

Raquel, Lourdes and Elisa are friends who work at a dry cleaning store. Their story includes happiness, hard work—and encounters with diabetes.
Read more about their friendship and how they stay healthy in a fotonovela from the National Diabetes Education Program. A fotonovela tells a story through photos and words. Do It for Them! But for You, Too (¡Hazlo por ellos! Pero por ti también.) presents the three women’s stories in English and Spanish in the same book.
Like the families of Raquel, Lourdes and Elisa, many Hispanic/Latino families have been affected by diabetes. During Hispanic Heritage Month, talk to your family about whether there is a history of diabetes. Then check out the fotonovela to learn more about how to prevent type 2 diabetes and how to manage diabetes if you have the condition.

Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

You are at increased risk for developing prediabetes and type 2 diabetes if you

• Are 45 years of age or older.
• Are overweight.
• Have a family history of type 2 diabetes.
• Are physically active fewer than three times per week.
• Ever gave birth to a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds.
• Ever had diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes).

How to Read or Order the Fotonovela

You can download the fotonovela or order a print copy from the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). For more information or to order the fotonovela, visit http://wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/ndep.aspx, or call 1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636)/TTY 1-(888) 232-6348. If you have questions, email Betsy Rodríguez CDC-NDEP Deputy Director at bjr6@cdc.gov.

You can download the fotonovela or order a print copy from the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) Web site or by calling 1-888-693-NDEP (1-888-693-6337). The first copy is free.

Read the story of Lourdes, a mother of two, who developed gestational diabetes while she was pregnant with her baby girl. Having gestational diabetes increases the chance that you will develop type 2 diabetes unless you make healthy changes. Lourdes’ doctor tells her she needs to lose weight and be more physically active to reduce her chance of developing diabetes. If she wants to take care of her children, first she must take care of herself.
Lourdes shares the doctor’s advice with Raquel and Elisa, who help their friend with simple steps to be more active. As it turns out, Elisa’s mother, Doña Emma, has diabetes, and Raquel’s mother went blind because of poorly controlled diabetes. Raquel did not want the same thing to happen to her, so when she learned she had prediabetes—a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered diabetes—she started making healthier food choices, riding her bike, and walking.

Friends Can Help You Make Healthy Changes

The three women plan a picnic at a park, where their children can play safely while they visit and share stories over a healthy meal. Doña Emma joins them and talks about how she changed the way she ate after learning she had diabetes.
Lourdes’ friends and Doña Emma offer advice on preventing type 2 diabetes and staying healthy with diabetes. So does Lourdes’ doctor.

• Choose healthier foods.
• Increase physical activity. If you’re out of shape, start slowly. Walk 10 minutes at a time, and build up to 30 minutes a day. Be active for at least 150 minutes a week.
• If you’re overweight, lose a moderate amount of weight—5% to 7%, or about 10-14 pounds for a 200-pound person.
• Turn off the TV while eating or doing homework.
• Help your children stay active by limiting TV and video games to no more than one to two hours a day and joining them in playing soccer, riding bikes, or brisk walking.

The book includes recipes for healthy snacks, including fruit smoothies, fresh carrot chips with a sprinkle of chile powder, and Caribbean frozen fruit cubes, ice pops which are made from juices without added sugar or syrup.

More Information

• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Aprende a Vivir (Learn to Live), a three-episode videonovela on managing  type 2 diabetes
• Tasty Recipes for People With Diabetes and Their Families (Ricas recetas para personas con diabetes y sus familiares)
• CDC: Division of Diabetes Translation offers information on managing diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes
• National Diabetes Education Program