in Western Sydney Lowering your D ABETES RISK
Western Sydney is a known diabetes hotspot with rates far higher than the NSW average. The region is home to over one million adults, and NSW Health estimates 13% of them are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and 38% are at high risk of developing diabetes1.
Western Sydney Diabetes (WSD) is a collaborative initiative led by the Western Sydney Local Health District, Western Sydney Primary Health Network, Diabetes Australia, and the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure.
This year WSD is celebrating 10 years and is dedicated to enhancing diabetes prevention and management efforts through a series of partnerships and innovative programs. The WSD team provide educational resources to educate the community on the high rates of type 2 diabetes in Western Sydney, prevention and how they can detect it early.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a condition where there is too much glucose (blood sugar) in the blood. This is normally due to low insulin levels or ineffective insulin which normally helps break down the glucose. Over time, high blood sugar levels can cause long-term damage to your heart, kidneys, eyes and feet.
If people with prediabetes lose 2kg and keep it off, then one in three people will not progress to getting diabetes.
If people with diabetes lose 10% of their bodyweight, in the first six years of diagnoses, 80% of them can achieve remission.
The haemoglobin A1C (HbA1c) is a blood test used to assess how well your glucose has been controlled over the previous few months. If people with diabetes can keep their HbA1c levels less than 7% and other heart risk factors low, they can reduce their risk of complications from the disease, similar to those without diabetes.
Lowering Your Risk
More than half of Western Sydney’s population could be at risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It is important to be aware of things you can do to lower your risk of developing diabetes. You can lower your diabetic risk if you:
9 Eat a balanced diet of whole foods
9 Exercise regularly
9 Manage your weight
9 Limit consuming processed sugars and fats
9 Avoid smoking
9 Have regular health check ups
Are You at High Risk of Diabetes?
If you fit any of the following criteria, you should go to your GP and consider getting tested for type 2 diabetes:
9 Have a family history of diabetes
9 Have an inactive lifestyle
9 Are overweight or obese
9 Had diabetes during pregnancy
9 Have a Pacific Island, Indian subcontinent, African, Asian, South Asian or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island background
Healthy Living Options for Western Sydney is a guide to free or inexpensive programs which aim to help Western Sydney community members stay fit and healthy.
Resources and Education
WSD has produced numerous educational resources, including 100 videos delivered by staff specialists about diabetes impact on hearing, feet, also diabetes prevention, diet and different diabetes medicines. They have also developed multicultural videos delivered in Chinese and Tamil.
Visit the WSD resources page to watch these videos.
Ongoing Activities
Workers Blacktown run free weekly line dancing classes on Wednesdays from 2:30pm . No partner is required, this is a great way to get active and have fun whilst meeting new people.
National Diabetes Week
During National Diabetes Week the WSD team will spend a week at Workers Blacktown promoting early diabetes detection and prevention from Monday 15 to Friday 19 July.
