Community Engagement/Outreach Core Specific Aims Diabetes in Oklahoma American Indians has reached unacceptable levels, with an estimated prevalence rate of 14.5% . It is considered to be an epidemic of monumental proportions with unacceptable levels of disability and death. Unfortunately, research has indicated that American Indian children and adolescents are now at increased risk for obesity, abnormal glucose tolerance, and Type 2 diabetes, conditions originally considered problems of middle-aged adults. Furthermore, offspring of mothers with diabetes during pregnancy are at even greater risk for these outcomes. Therefore, under the auspices of the Oklahoma Center for American Indian Diabetes Health Disparities (OCAIDHD), the Community Engagement/Outreach Core will continue the mission begun under the EXPORT center and be dedicated to primary and secondary prevention of diabetes among children and adolescents of American Indian communities. It is notable that three of the five core personnel are researchers who are members of Oklahoma American Indian tribes and have had extensive involvement in AI communities. Two interventions are included in this core: 1) Native Youth Preventing Diabetes (NYPD) and 2) Eagle Books Project.
Specific Aim # 1: Address community and individual risk factors for diabetes through primary prevention strategies targeting children and adolescents.
Specific Aim # 2: Expand the Native Youth Preventing Diabetes program to include additional tribal communities.
Specific Aim # 3: Expand dissemination of the Eagle Book series to reach American Indian children in Oklahoma Tribal communities.
Specific Aim # 4: Evaluate the effectiveness of the NYPD program in terms of: number participants, participant and familial response to programs, and quantifiable indices of the following: nutrition and diabetes prevention knowledge, physical activity, behavioral health, BMI, fasting blood glucose, fasting lipids, and blood pressure.
Specific Aim # 5: Evaluate the effectiveness of the Eagle Books in terms of: distribution number, and child, family, and community responses to the book series.
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