Giant Food partners with higi on diabetes prevention program

LANDOVER, Md. — Ahold's Giant Food on Monday announced the deployment of a National Diabetes Prevention Program, PreventT2, utilizing in-store nutritionists as lifestyle coaches to help prevent type 2 diabetes diagnoses across the patients they serve. Groups of participants are learning the skills they need to make lasting changes such as eating better, losing a modest amount of weight, being more physically active and managing stress, the grocer noted.



"One in three American adults has prediabetes, so the need for prevention has never been greater," stated Lisa Coleman, lead nutritionist, Giant Food. "The PreventT2 program offers a proven approach to preventing or delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes through modest lifestyle changes made with the support of a coach and one's peers."



PreventT2 is part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The local program is free and has enrolled more than 100 customers in the first classes. Giant Food and higi, the largest network of retail based self-screening health stations have partnered to help customers utilize the higi stations to track and monitor their progress between sessions with the in-store nutritionists.



"People need to realize the important role that food plays in overall health and how food choices can have a major impact," commented Khan Siddiqui, chief medical and technology officer for higi. "Giant's registered dietitians can do a lot to educate their shoppers and prepare them to make the better food choices. The infrastructure higi offers with its in-store screening stations is a major bonus for our participants. The stations offer a private weigh-in option, available any time they visit our stores as well as blood pressure measurement and tracking for various other health metrics."



PreventT2 groups meet for a year - weekly for the first 6 months, then once or twice a month for the second 6 months to maintain healthy lifestyle changes. The program’s group setting provides a supportive environment with people who are facing similar challenges and trying to make the same changes. Together participants celebrate their successes and find ways to overcome obstacles.



PreventT2 is based on research that showed that people with prediabetes who lost 5% to 7% of their body weight by making modest changes reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%.