Many Fresh Start programs are free or low-cost. They match you with a coach or diabetes specialist for support to move more, choose healthy foods and drinks, track and treat your blood sugar levels as needed, and make other health changes. Those changes will help you feel better right away and prevent future health issues related to diabetes.
Diabetes occurs when the body either can't produce enough of the hormone called insulin or can't use insulin properly. This causes high blood sugar levels. Over time, high blood sugar can increase chances of developing serious health problems like heart disease, kidney damage, nerve damage, amputations, and loss of hearing or vision.
In Alaska, 9% of adults have already been diagnosed with diabetes and another 14% have prediabetes, according to the 2024 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Prediabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. In 2024, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in Alaska, causing 171 deaths.
Assess your risk and join a program to prevent diabetes
This November, take a free 1-minute quiz at https://www.cdc.gov/prediabetes/risktest/ to see if you are at higher risk for prediabetes. The Alaska Department of Health is ready to support you when you’re ready to make health changes to reverse prediabetes and prevent developing type 2 diabetes. The department promotes several types of supportive programs through Alaska’s Fresh Start campaign.
The first program is a nationally recognized Diabetes Prevention Program, shortened to DPP. The Alaska health department works with organizations based in a dozen local communities and with an online partnership to provide these DPP programs in ways that work best for participants. Alaska adults who want to lose weight and prevent diabetes can find programs offered in-person, online, or through a mix of in-person and online.
If you don’t meet the eligibility requirements for the DPP, you may be eligible for another option offered through Alaska’s online partnership with Health and Lifestyle Training (HALT). That option is called a Healthy Lifestyle program to lose weight and make other healthy changes. Alaska’s HALT partnership will match you with the best program for you.
Join a program to manage diabetes
Similar partnerships with local organizations offer programs to support Alaskans to manage diabetes. These are called Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support (DSMES) programs. In 2024, 841 Alaskans received support to manage diabetes through a DSMES provider.
Visit freshstart.alaska.gov and read more about programs to manage diabetes at the tab called “Lower blood sugar.” Then visit this health department website and scroll to the headline that reads “How to sign up: Find an Alaska-based program near you.” Underneath, you will find links to local organizations in 10 communities that provide programs to manage diabetes. Some of these organizations also can sign up Alaskans who don’t live in that community, but who will participate online to manage diabetes.
Join now to feel better this holiday season
Go to freshstart.alaska.gov to find the program that’s right for you to prevent or manage diabetes.
Visit the Diabetes Prevention and Control program webpage to learn more about the Alaska health department’s efforts to support Alaskans to prevent and manage diabetes:
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