The CDC’s lifestyle change program (LCP), part of the National Diabetes Prevention Program, teaches people with prediabetes practical, real-life changes. Those changes can be enough to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by as much as 58%—or even 71% for people aged > 60 years. But are enough people getting the opportunity to participate?
CDC researchers assessed the availability of in-person LCP classes by diabetes incidence and socioeconomic status at the county level. They mapped 1,558 LCP class locations. They found classes in 711 (23%) US counties as of March 2017 (there may be more now, the researchers say).
But the classes were not necessarily located where they could do the most good, the researchers found. Only 17% of the counties with the highest diabetes incidence and 10% of counties with the most socioeconomic disadvantage had a publicly available class location. By contrast, 26.8% of counties in the lowest tertile of incidence had class locations.
The researchers say policy makers, program planners, and others engaged in expanding the availability of the classes can use the information to prioritize locations, especially for underrepresented populations.