Diabetes classes coming to Hope Moravian Church

Registration for the first Dining with Diabetes program at the Hope Moravian Church remains open through this Friday.

The two-hour long program, offered by Purdue Extension Bartholomew County, is open to anyone interested in learning more about healthy eating and healthy lifestyle.

“We have an opportunity to look at nutrition not only in terms of diabetics,” says Harriet Armstrong, health and human sciences educator with the Purdue Extension Bartholomew County. “We go over things like sugar, salt, fat, various vitamins and how to eliminate excesses that are found in our food.”

The prevalence of diabetes in today’s culture is an unfortunate reality that deserves attention, Armstrong says. Not only do people need to understand the disease, but that the inherent threats it brings are potential complications that shouldn’t be ignored.

But the situation isn’t as dire as it sounds. Diabetes can be managed.

“Unlike other chronic diseases one can affect it by their lifestyle of what they eat and what they do,” Armstrong says. “If the person is not diabetic the class offers good info for them as well because those habits are not explicitly for diabetics, but for everyone.”

Lauri Hendershot, secretary with the Hope Moravian Church, hopes this program paves the way for additional similar programs at the church.

“I hope it helps those who attend educate themselves not only for diabetics, but for everyone to make healthy eating choices,” she says.

The Hope Moravian Church hosts an evening meal site on Mondays, Armstrong says, which makes for a prime opportunity to introduce the Dining with Diabetes program.

“We have a responsibility as an extension office to work with all of Bartholomew County,” Armstrong says. “We wanted to make sure for anyone who wanted to come to the program that it would be easy to stay for the class.”

Those who attend the four-week series can expect an interactive program that addresses a variety of topics including meal planning, reading food labels, differences between various types of fat, and ways to use a variety of sweeteners and seasonings.

Each week will feature goal setting, tools to track foods consumed and activity levels, Armstrong says.

“At the midpoint break each week we actually sample recipes,” Armstrong says. “We have different types of recipes for each class, appetizers, deserts, main dishes and side dishes. And then we talk about how they’re put together with some demonstrations.”

It is preferred that participants attend all four sessions as each one builds on the lessons of the previous week, Armstrong says. As life does tend to happen, those who must miss a class are encouraged to make up the missed session the next time the program is offered.