Fotonovela Gives Tips to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes affects many Hispanic/Latino families. To prevent type 2 diabetes or to stay healthy if you already have diabetes, choose healthy foods and be physically active. During Hispanic Heritage Month, ask whether your family has a history of diabetes.

Raquel, Lourdes and Elisa work at a dry cleaning store. The friends share good times, hard work—and encounters with diabetes.

You can read more about their friendship and the steps they take to stay healthy in a fotonovela from the National Diabetes Education Program. A fotonovela tells a story through photos and words. Do It for Them! But for You, Too (¡Hazlo por ellos! Pero por ti también.) presents the three women’s stories in English and Spanish in the same book.

Like the families of Raquel, Lourdes and Elisa, many Hispanic/Latino families have been affected by diabetes. If a parent, brother or sister has type 2 diabetes, you have a higher chance of developing the disease. During Hispanic Heritage Month, talk to your family about whether there is a history of diabetes. Then check out the fotonovela to learn more about how to prevent type 2 diabetes and how to manage diabetes if you have the condition.

How to Read or Order the Fotonovela

You can download the fotonovela or order a print copy from the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) Web site or by calling 1-888-693-NDEP (1-888-693-6337). The first copy is free. Each additional book, up to a total of five, costs $2, shipping included. For bulk orders, email Betsy Rodríguez, CDC-NDEP deputy director.

You can download the fotonovela or order a print copy from the National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) Web site or by calling 1-888-693-NDEP (1-888-693-6337). The first copy is free.

The book tells the story of Lourdes, a mother of two, who developed gestational diabetes while she was pregnant with her baby girl. Having gestational diabetes increases the chance that you will develop type 2 diabetes unless you make healthy changes. Lourdes’ doctor tells her she needs to lose weight and get more physical activity if she wants to reduce her chance of developing diabetes. If she wants to take care of her children, first she must take care of herself.

Lourdes shares the doctor’s advice with Raquel and Elisa, who help their friend with simple steps to start being more active. As it turns out, Elisa’s mother, Doña Emma, has diabetes, and Raquel’s mother went blind because of poorly controlled diabetes. Raquel did not want the same thing to happen to her, so when she learned she had prediabetes—a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered diabetes—she started making healthier food choices, riding her bike, and walking.

Friends Can Help You Make Healthy Changes

The three women plan a picnic at a park, where their children can play safely and they can visit and share stories over a healthy meal. Doña Emma joins them and talks about how she changed the way she ate after learning she had diabetes.

Lourdes’ friends and Doña Emma offer advice on preventing type 2 diabetes and staying healthy with diabetes. So does Lourdes’ doctor.

• Choose healthier foods.
• Increase physical activity. If you’re out of shape, start slowly. Walk 10 minutes at a time, and build up to 30 minutes a day. Be active for at least 150 minutes a week.
• If you’re overweight, lose a moderate amount of weight—5% to 7%, or about 10-14 pounds for a 200-pound person.
• Turn off the TV while eating or doing homework.
• Help your children stay active by limiting TV and video games to no more than one to two hours a day and joining them in playing soccer, riding bikes, or brisk walking.

The book includes recipes for healthy snacks, including fruit smoothies, fresh carrot chips with a sprinkle of chile powder, and Caribbean frozen fruit cubes, ice pops which are made from juices without added sugar or syrup.

More Information

• CDC: Diabetes & Me offers information on managing diabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Aprende a Vivir (Learn to Live), a three-episode videonovela on managing type 2 diabetes
• Tasty Recipes for People With Diabetes and Their Families (Ricas recetas para personas con diabetes y sus familiares)
• CDC: Division of Diabetes Translation
• National Diabetes Education Program