Together We Can STOP Diabetes!

Today we kicked off our Diabetes Awareness and Prevention campaign!

We are working with the American Diabetes Association to raise money to help find a cure for diabetes. We all know someone who is affected by this disease, it is very common in our community and within our school family. I am personally affected, as my mom was diagnosed as a diabetic two years ago.

It is important for us to stress the concept of ENERGY INPUT (food and nutrients) vs. ENERGY EXPENDITURE (exercise and daily energy requirements) to our students. Here are some tips provided to us by the ADA:

Eating Food = Energy Input

• Grains are any food made from wheat, rice, oats, cornmeal, and barley.
• Vegetables are any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice.
• Fruits are any fruit or 100% fruit juice.
• Dairy includes all fluid milk productss and many foods made from milk.
• Proteins come from meat, poultry, seafood, beans and peas, eggs, processed soy products, nuts, and seeds.

Important things to remember:

Make at least half your grains WHOLE grains!

Make HALF your plate fruits and vegetables!

Enjoy your food, but eat less!

Avoid oversized portions!

Drink water instead of sugary drinks!

Physical Activity = Energy Expenditure

Physical activity is movement of the body that uses energy.

• Moderate Physical Activities:
• Walking briskly
• Bicycling (less than 10 miles an hour)
• General gardening
• Dancing
• Golf (walking and carrying clubs)
• Water aerobics
• Canoeing
• Tennis
• Vigorous Physical Activities:
• Running/jogging
• Fast walk
• Bicycling (more than 10 miles an hour)
• Heavy yard work, such as chopping wood
• Swimming
• Aerobics
• Basketball
• Tennis

Let's work together to teach our students about diabetes and let's help them raise money for this worthy cause!!!