WakeMed Health & Hospitals

ENERGIZE!

WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, N.C., in concert with the YMCA of the Triangle and the Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department, with the financial support from the John Rex Endowment and the Duke Endowment, have created a program that dramatically impacts children at risk for or already showing signs of type 2 diabetes. ENERGIZE! is a 12-week intensive lifestyle education initiative that focuses on nutrition, physical fitness and behavior modification.

ENERGIZE! was inspired by the Diabetes Prevention Program, a major clinical trial that demonstrated that diet and exercise sharply reduce the chance that adults with impaired glucose tolerance will develop diabetes. Those types of lifestyle interventions have not been proven effective in children, but in theory could, which WakeMed did when developing its kid and family-friendly program.

Pediatricians refer children based on criteria developed by WakeMed, including a body mass index greater than 85 percent for the child’s age, a family history of diabetes, and/or being of African-American or Latino ethnicity. WakeMed personnel then meet with the children and their families, conduct lab tests, explain the child’s risk factors and describe the program. Families enroll free-of-charge, but commit to three months of nutritional and health education and a variety of physical activities. ENERGIZE! expanded sessions now are held in at least eight locations.

Results

• Of 500 children who have completed the program, 50 % had a decreased body mass index after six months, and 50 % of participants with fasting blood sugars higher than 100 had reduced the figure to normal (below 100) within six months.
• The state legislature appropriated $250,000 to expand a pilot to five other counties.

***For further information, please visit, http://www.wakemed.org/body.cfm?id=609.

Published: January 26, 2009