With societal health challenges stemming from obesity, poor nutrition, and a sedentary lifestyle, some 1 in 3 individuals is likely to become diabetic in their lifetime.  We hope to stem this tide by teaching and modeling sustained nutrition and exercise regimens in a supportive and interactive manner.  The American Diabetes Association and others recommend that persons with prediabetes be referred to a lifestyle change program such as the diabetes prevention program. Persons with prediabetes have a blood sugar level higher than normal, but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes

·         Program cost per person: $400

·         Participation Rate (Percentage of likely eligible employees with prediabetes at your workplace): 35%

·         Average Weight Loss (%) for each employee completing program: 7 lb = 50% reduced risk of diabetes

·         Medical Costs: Excess medical costs for a person with diabetes as compared to a similar person without diabetes at your workplace: Year of diagnosis: $6,425 Years after diagnosis: $3,900

How Type 2 Diabetes Affects Your Workforce: One in three U.S. adults has prediabetes—84 million people! Nine in 10 don’t even know they have it. Prediabetes puts a person at increased risk for type 2 diabetes, heart attack, and stroke.

Without intervention, many people with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years. Type 2 diabetes puts individuals at risk of serious health problems, including:

·         Heart attack

·         Stroke

·         Blindness

·         Kidney failure

·         Loss of toes, feet, or legs

Diabetes Is Costly: People diagnosed with diabetes incur on average $16,750 annually in medical expenses.

Type 2 diabetes affects millions of individuals and their families, workplaces, and the U.S. health care system. In 2017, the total cost of care for people with diagnosed diabetes was $327 billion, up 33% over a 5-year period. About 1 in 4 health care dollars is spent on people with diagnosed diabetes. The majority of expenses are related to hospitalizations and medications used to treat complications of diabetes.

People diagnosed with diabetes incur on average $16,750 annually in medical expenses. That’s about 2.3 times the medical expenses of a person without diabetes. The need to prevent type 2 diabetes has never been greater.

It’s no exaggeration; diabetes is a serious workforce issue. But you can help prevent type 2 diabetes; and it’s typically much cheaper to prevent diabetes than to treat the consequences of the disease. Learn how CDC-recognized lifestyle change programs can be an effective resource to help your employees prevent type 2 diabetes.

 Global law firm Latham & Watkins, with nearly 3,000 attorneys and staff in the U.S. alone, launched a successful pilot of the National Diabetes Prevention Program in its New York City office with on-site A1c testing followed by lifestyle change classes throughout 2015. Latham’s wellness team partnered with a respected New York City hospital to increase office-wide awareness of prediabetes, biometrically screen those concerned about their risk and engage those identified as high-risk. This approach not only resulted in enthusiasm from program participants, but helped raise the issue of prediabetes generally and underscored the firm’s commitment to preventing this disease. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of participants—10 of whom moved from having prediabetes to normal blood sugar levels over the course of a year—the pilot’s strong results have set the stage for an expansion of the program. The firm is now expanding the program to its Los Angeles-area offices and is exploring ways to further scale the program for its other locations.

Help Prevent Type 2 Diabetes: You can help your employees or insured members prevent type 2 diabetes by offering CDC-recognized lifestyle change programs as a covered benefit.

Research shows that a year-long, structured lifestyle change intervention reduced the incidence of diabetes by 58% among adults with prediabetes and by 71% in those aged 60 years or older. CDC-recognized diabetes prevention lifestyle change programs are based on that science, and they are part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, or National DPP, a nationwide effort to reverse the trend of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in the US.

CDC-recognized lifestyle change programs are more than weight loss programs. The programs are tailored to people at high risk for type 2 diabetes and encourage sustained, meaningful engagement through trained lifestyle coaches and group support.

Your employees will learn how to make better food choices; fit physical activity into their schedule; cope with stress; and solve problems that get in the way of their goals

In one study of a program that has served more than 26,800 participants, about 9 out of 10 participants reported increased physical activity, reduced portion sizes, and improved health after 16 weeks with the program. By the end of the year-long program, participants had lost an average of 5.7% of their body weight. Several other studies have also shown weight loss in a similar range, including an average weight loss of 4.8% among participants in an online lifestyle change program.