National Diabetes Awareness Month and Fitness
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month in the United States. Health organizations around the nation are promoting diabetes awareness and offering kickstart programs for diabetes prevention, treatment, and raising money for research. Promotion of fitness programs is a large part of this month's campaign.
Type 2 diabetes risks can be lowered significantly with regular physical activity and moderate to high fitness levels. Obesity is closely linked with type 2 diabetes as a risk factor, as are certain diets and lifestyle choices such as smoking or drinking alcohol.
Simple physical activities can greatly reduce diabetes risks while improving overall health.
Easy, daily, practical exercises that most anyone can do include marching in place for 10-15 minutes at a time, walking for 20 or more minutes, using resistance bands or hand weights, or using an exercise machine or going to the gym. A physician or physical therapist can give more ideas and details on what type of regimen may be best for the individual.
It's been proven through several studies that regular physical activity greatly reduces many health risks, including cardiovascular, some cancers, and diabetes. Regular exercise can sometimes replace medications or other requirements.
Awareness of Type 1 Diabetes also being promoted in November.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is promoting its T1D Looks Like Me campaign, which features videos, photos, and other media depicting regular people who have type 1 diabetes. This includes a "Get Quizzed by a Whiz Kid" campaign in which people can test their knowledge of diabetes against a nine-year-old with type 1.
Social media campaigns are also included. People can create their own profile photo or footprint of a "T1D Looks Like Me" for social media accounts through the T1D campaign at JDRF.
November 14, 2017 is World Diabetes Day.
Diabetes awareness will go global on Tuesday, November 14 as organizations and clubs around the globe promote awareness of the disease.