To celebrate National Diabetes Awareness Day, November 14, Pocahontas Memorial Hospital teamed with Pocahontas IGA to host diabetes friendly “tasting stations” around the store. PMH staff and Diabetes Support Group members manned the stations, offering free samples, recipes and healthy tips. Stations included a brown rice and orange salad in the produce section, yogurt parfaits in the dairy section, beef and turkey sliders in the meat section and black bean salsa in the deli area.
The afternoon was a fun event to raise awareness of diabetes and share a healthier way of cooking. Many shoppers immediately be-gan looking for ingredients to prepare the recipes and commented that they would not need to cook dinner after they got home because they were having so much fun visiting the different stations. The day was possible through the work and collaboration of PMH and IGA, but was funded by a grant from the Snowshoe Foundation.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Pocahontas County has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the state with nearly 11 percent of our population aged 20 or older being told by a doctor that they have diabetes. Not included are the many folks who are at risk for diabetes or have pre-diabetes or simply do not know that they have diabetes. Nearly 26 million people in the United States have diabetes, and it is estimated that as many as one in every three adults will have the disease by the year 2050.
PMH hosts a Diabetes Support Group on the fourth Tuesday of each month. Join us on Tuesday, November 28, for our next meeting at 6:30 p.m. Meetings are a time of education and fellowship. For more information about the Support Group or diabetes education at PMH, contact Terry Wagner at 304-799-7400. You may also visit our website at www.pmhwv.org/pmhdiabetes to learn more about the many opportunities we offer for education and support.
