This hugely successful local program has stopped diabetes in its tracks

Like many people, Barbara Ann Peel was an emotional eater during stressful times and over the years, she struggled with weight issues and ‘yo-yo dieting.’

After a doctor’s visit, the bloodwork lab told the 74-year-old retired daycare worker she was at risk of being diabetic.

“That’s the first notion I got that something is or could be wrong,” Peel told Kelowna10. “My mother had type two diabetes, which led to complications like macular degeneration. I thought, ‘I don’t want to go there.’”

Canada-wide, three million people are prediabetic, whether they know it or not, and the bloodwork of about 500 people per month in the Okanagan is also listed as ‘at-risk.’

Those who are at highest risk are: the physically inactive, are obese, who have had family with it including spouses, and men over 40.

Peel’s doctor referred her to a program out of the University of British Columbia which has operated since 2017 – Small Steps For Big Changes.

It's expanding to other communities in B.C. to tackle a bigger problem than some may realize.

“Kelowna is pretty similar to numbers across the country and that means that we have a number of people walking around with prediabetes that they don’t know they have,” Small Steps program director and associate professor, Dr. Mary Jung said.

Small Steps is unique from other treatment plans due to its efficiency.

Traditional prevention programs would have been a six month to three-year commitment. Participant motivation often fades, and they were costly due to often being exclusively administered by highly paid healthcare practitioners.

“Of course, that then limits the reach of a program,” Jung said. “A big motive for me that continues to this day is making a diabetes prevention program accessible.”

Each participant at Small Steps is partnered with a coach. They’re put through counselling sessions to assess habits and long term, attainable goals for diet and exercise and the whole process only takes months.

The program partners with community members and organizations like the YMCA of Southern Interior B.C. to administer exercises.

600 people have gone through Small Steps and 85 per cent of participants have had blood sugar levels return to healthy ranges and no one has become type two diabetic, according to Jung.

“This is a free program that we’re providing our community members who might be at risk, and we’d love to see more people through it.”

Peel admitted the painful part of the program was cleaning out her cupboards and throwing away the sweets. Her coach met up with her and found her preferred form of exercise is walking on the treadmill.

“I was losing weight and my whole outlook on life changed and I began to feel good about myself,” Peel said. “I would recommend [the program] to anybody in that situation.”