Cow Creeks receive grant for diabetes prevention

CANYONVILLE -- The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians is taking on an effort to prevent diabetes among tribal members.

The Cow Creeks, along with the Coquille and Klamath tribes, received a $2.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Indian Health Service to help prevent type 2 diabetes, a disease where people either do not produce enough insulin or they do not use the insulin their bodies make.

The majority of people who have this disease are overweight and for some unknown reason, Native Americans are more susceptible to becoming diabetic, said Jeff Bentley with Klamath Tribal Health & Family Services at a press conference Tuesday. Diabetes can cause serious and life-threatening health problems.

To help prevent tribal members from getting the disease, the tribes are starting an exercise and diet program, which will target about 150 people in a three-year period who are pre-diabetic, or at risk of diabetes. Many people are unaware they are pre-diabetic because they have no symptoms.

"It's definitely exciting," said Bob Dunas, health educator for the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians Health & Wellness Center.

The program has the potential to change how the participants eat and do their daily activities, which will filter down to their children and grandchildren, Dunas said. This could prevent future diabetes.

Today, 21 million Americans have the disease and more than 40 million are at risk of becoming diabetic, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The idea for the program came from the national Diabetes Prevention Program Study, which determined diet and exercise could delay the onset of type 2 diabetes. Twenty-five other tribes were also awarded grants to conduct the program. All 500 federally recognized tribes were eligible.

The tribes will record individual progress, which will be complied at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. The data will be brought before Congress a year later.

"Whatever was learned will be used to tweak and fine-tune the program," Bentley said, adding the hope is to start the program in other populations.

Each of the three local tribes will take on 16 volunteers to participate every year.

Participants don't have to be a member of a local tribe. They must be from a nationally recognized tribe and be over the age 18. A test will determine if they're at risk of diabetes.

Volunteers will work with nutritionists, health educators and personal trainers at the tribes' health clinics.

Participants will be given a handbook to learn more about healthy choices and will be required to record what they eat and how much they've exercised. The goal is to exercise for 150 minutes each week.

To make it fun, participants will receive incentives whenever they visit the clinic or reach individual goals. They'll be given "diabetes prevention program bucks" that can be spent on items such as water bottles, cookbooks and weights.

Participants will receive $25 gift certificates to purchase healthy foods.

Those in charge of the program will provide inspiration, but for the program to work, Dunas said, volunteers must be motivated and willing to change their lifestyles. They have to decide if it's worth it.

Bentley thinks it is.

"By reaching these goals, they may be able to delay the onset of diabetes."



* You can reach reporter Danielle Gillespie at 957-4202 or by e-mail at dgillespie@newsreview.info.