FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 30, 2010

CONTACT:

Jill LeBrasseur, Communications Specialist
Produce for Better Health Foundation
5341 Limestone Rd.
Wilmington, DE 19808
302-235-2329
Fax: 302-235-5555

Number of Type 2 Diabetics in America is Growing

Eating More Fruits and Vegetables and Other Lifestyle Changes Can Help Cut Your Risk

Hockessin, Del. -  

The number of people with type 2 diabetes is growing. In America, approximately 23.6 million people suffer from this disease that is caused as much by lifestyle factors as by heredity. Many more people have type 2 diabetes but are unaware of their condition. The disease has become so widespread that a recent special edition of The Lancet, a weekly medical journal, focused solely on diabetes. In that issue, the magazine called the current prevalence of type 2 diabetes an epidemic, and considered it a public health humiliation because this disease is mostly preventable.

Because type 2 diabetes is principally rooted in reversible lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise patterns, an approach involving medication alone doesn’t offer as much hope as a cooperative approach that combines both medical treatment as well as lifestyle changes like switching to a healthier diet and adding exercise to your daily routine. Those with a predisposition for this disease, people with a family history of type 2 diabetes, as well as the overweight and obese, can also implement changes in their dietary and exercise habits to help prevent the condition.

Registered Dietitian Elizabeth Pivonka says many Americans consume too many fats and too much added sugar. She says replacing foods that are high in fat and sugar with nutritious fruits and vegetables can have a great impact on weight and overall health.

“When people make lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating a more healthful diet, and getting more physical activity, they can lower their risk of progressing from prediabetes to diabetes,” says Pivonka. “Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet in place of products with added sugars and fats is a great way to loose or maintain weight and may help cut your risk for Type 2 Diabetes.”

Pivonka serves as president and CEO of Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH), the non-profit organization behind the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters® national public health initiative. She says that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is a great way to ensure that your body gets all the nutrition, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other healthy substances that it needs. She also says that only six percent of Americans routinely consume their recommended amount of vegetables and only eight percent meet their recommended consumption of fruit in an average day.
 
“Fruits and vegetables are so important to good health that we all need to be thinking of ways to eat MORE of them. The good news is that adding more fruits and veggies to your diet is easy when you include fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and vegetables.”

Pivonka has plenty of ideas for adding more produce to meals and snacks. She suggests eating fruit for dessert instead of a high-fat pastry or candy with added sugar.
   
“Another good tip is to set out a plate of raw vegetables with low-fat dip as you’re preparing a meal. The whole family can snack on these as you cook and quickly reach their daily recommended amount of veggies.”

For other ideas and easy tips on how to include more healthy fruits and vegetables in meals and snacks, Fruits & Veggies—More Matters offers tools and advice online at www.FruitsandVeggiesMoreMatters.org.


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About Produce for Better Health Foundation
Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) fruit and vegetable education foundation.  Since 1991, PBH has been working hard to motivate people to eat more fruits and vegetables to improve public health.  PBH achieves success through industry and government collaboration, first with the 5 A Day program and now with the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters public health initiative.  Fruits & Veggies—More Matters is the nation’s largest public-private, fruit and vegetable nutrition education initiative with Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Coordinators in each state, territory and the military.

PBH is also a member and co-chair with Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) of the National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance (NFVA), consisting of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and industry working to collaboratively and synergistically achieve increased nationwide access and demand for all forms off fruits and vegetables for improved public health.  To learn more, visit www.pbhfoundation.org and www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org.