Published: October 04, 2009 08:43 am      

Conference offers tips for diabetics

Alice Varnell is all to familiar with the diabetes.

Besides her job where she cares for residents at Grace Living Center who have the disease, Varnell's husband, Tom, was recently diagnosed with the illness.

Because she knows it can lead to blindness and poor circulation in the feet, she decided she needed to know more about diabetes to help care for him.

“I’ve come here to study on it -- figure it out,” she said Saturday at a conference on diabetes at High Plains Technology Center. The conference, titled “Healthy Living with Diabetes Prevention and Control,” addressed exactly what she needed to know, Varnell said.

Presented by the Dewey County, Ellis County and Woodward County OSU Extension Services the conference touched on five areas: Standards of diabetic care; diabetic foot care; establishing healthy eating in children; diabetic meal planning and portion sizes; and holiday cooking for the diabetic.

Ellen Morehart of Weston Medical Drug spoke on foot care.

“There are a lot of complications with diabetes,” Morehart said. “Hands and feet become numb from lack of circulation and go to sleep. They lose their ability to feel.”

As a result, sores caused from blisters can be slow to heal and develop into more serious injuries, she said.

“People shouldn’t wear socks with seams in them because they can cause blisters, she said. “Patients because of numbness in the feet can’t tell when they’re rubbing against the skin.”

Wearing the right types of shoes can also prevent these issues, she said.

Deana Hildebrand, an Extension nutrition specialist, spoke about child nutrition and healthy eating in children.

She said that children who are taught to eat right early in life are less likely of developing the disease later.

“The feeding relationship is important,” Hildebrand said. “Foods available in the house when a child is weaned from formula or breast feeding will be the foods that kids have a preference for later in life.”

“Whole grains, fruits and vegetables and lean meats will be the preferences that children develop if that’s what they’re served,” she said.

She stressed serving regularly scheduled meals and snacks and not allowing eating in between times, because “this establishes healthy eating habits.”

“One of the contributing factors to Type 2 Diabetes is obesity, she said, noting that establishing a healthy eating pattern prevents obesity.

Ruth Ann Givens, a dietitian from Arnett, addressed diabetic meal planning and making sure the patient exercises.

People with diabetes need to learn how to work with diet and physical activity, Givens said.

“They should have a meal plan individualized to meet their needs,” she said. “They also should know how being sick affects blood glucose. A diabetic meal plan controls glucose in the blood and prevents diabetic complications.

“It should fit each person’s needs,” she said, noting, “a healthy way of eating includes a variety of foods, watching portion sizes and eating foods low in fat.”

She said in addition to proper diet, exercise was also important to controlling diabetes.

Diabetics should exercise at least 30 minutes a day and up to 60 minutes a day for weight loss and to sustain weight loss, she said.

In addition to eating right and exercise, she said, diabetic patients need to have annual eye exams, regular dental exams and take care of their feet.