Galesburg Cottage Hospital next week is planning an event to help diabetic individuals plan for and educate themselves on preparing meals – especially during the holidays.
According to the American Diabetes Association, data received from 2015 showed that 30.3 million Americans – or 9.4% of the population has diabetes. One point five million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year, and 84.1 million Americans 18 and over had pre-diabetes in 2015. Kristen Lee who is board certified in advanced diabetes management tells WGIL an opportunity for diabetic education is next week at Cottage. “Next week (on) November 14th is kinda of our end-of-the-year wrap-up,” Lee said. “We bring in dietitians from Cottage Hospital and at 5:30 we’ll have a spread in our lobby. We prepare a Thanksgiving meal. Everyone will grab a plate and just go around – it’s just…ok this plate you served up…where are the carbohydrates, where are the starches….” Lee notes that when we over-eat on carbohydrates and starches, our body turns that to sugar – and that is what we need to watch out for. She says that so much in America is “super-sized” and learning to measure out serving sizes and noting what we eat is so important. The free public education sessions take place every other month at the Cottage Hospital lobby. Sessions range in topics from cardiology, podiatry, optometry, and pulmonary.
