November is National Diabetes Month and November 14 is World Diabetes Day. To help increase awareness of diabetes, Diabetes Prevention and Control (DP&C) will be offering the following services:

Village Clinic Screenings: DP&C will be emailing all of the clinics diabetes screening tools to use with patients. It is the hope of DP&C that this will not only draw attention to diabetes itself, but will help to identify individuals who are at high risk of developing diabetes so that work can be done to prevent the development of the disease.

Recipe Videos: the first in a series of recipe videos will be released on November 1 that show how to make inexpensive and healthy foods! The videos will be released on the YKHC facebook page and can also be located here. November’s recipe is for cabbage steaks, which are super simple to make and the ingredients are inexpensive thanks to a partnership between DP&C, the Food Bank of Alaska, and Meyers Farm. To purchase cabbage you can visit this website to place an order for a produce box which contains one head of lettuce, as well as other fruits and vegetables. The boxes cost just $15 and when you order a box online, DP&C will pay the shipping costs to get the box out to any village in the YK service area.

YKHC Cafeteria: DP&C has partnered with YKHC’s Dietary Department to offer a diabetes-friendly, healthy recipe in the cafeteria on World Diabetes Day. If you are in Bethel, be sure to stop by the cafeteria for lunch or dinner to check out a delicious, healthy meal!

Diabetes Month Proclamations: The City of Bethel and the Nunapitchuk Traditional Council recently signed proclamations declaring the month of November as a Diabetes Month. The declarations focus on the ways in which we can promote health within our communities. DP&C is encouraging other city or tribal offices in our region to sign similar proclamations. If you are interested in having your community sign a proclamation, please call the DP&C office at 543-6133 for more information.