Trelawny Diabetes Management Project

Preventing Obesity in Jamaican Children: a first step in preventing diabetes and improving health

Jamaica has a high prevalence of diabetes with a significantly higher rate among women than among men.  Diabetes is the number one cause of death among females while it ranks between third and fourth cause of death among males. In rural areas in Jamaica among certain sectors of the population, individuals are less likely to be diagnosed of their diabetes at an earlier stage of the disease as their urban counterpart.

The Trelawny Diabetes Management Project is working in a rural area in the parish of Trelawny to provide education about diabetes, working with three primary schools to push a prevention program and working with individuals who are diabetic to teach strategies on how to manage the disease in order to improve or maintain their quality of life. The project area includes the districts of Wakefield, Bunkers Hill and Deeside.

For the children, we found that approximately one-third of the children go to school without breakfast or lunch. We contributed to a breakfast program earlier this year but are unable to continue due to the lack of funds.  We have 1,000 children in the three schools for whom we would like to develop a breakfast program while working with the communities to establish a sustainable means for ensuring food access.

An important part of type 2 diabetes prevention is physical activities. We are working with the schools to introduce baseball and with the help of friends have gathered enough equipment to start the program January 2015.  We still need monies to provide training for persons to coach the teams and referee the games; train the trainers; purchasing of uniforms; provide transportation between the schools and constructing stands for the parents to cheer the kids on while they play.

For individuals with diabetes we have had seminars and various aspects of diabetes teaching them how to monitor their blood sugar levels and the effects of certain food on their blood sugar. We have included information about diabetes in lay terms to increase their diabetes literacy so that they can communicate more effectively to health providers.  Last spring we supplied fruit and vegetable seeds to help in improving access to healthier diets.

What is the dollar goal? We are hoping to obtain $25,000!!!

What will my $ buy? 

$10.00 will provide breakfast for one child for 1.5 weeks

$15.00 will provide 1 baseball hat

$25.00 will provide breakfast for 3.5 children for 1 week

$25.00 will provide 50 diabetic test strips (enough to test 2x/day 25 days)

$35.00 will provide 1 pair baseball pants and jersey

$50.00 will provide 100 diabetic test strips (enough for 2 people to test 2x/day 25 days)

$100.00 will provide breakfast for 13.3 children for 1 week

$100.00 will provide 200 diabetic test strips (enough for 4 people to test 2x/day 25 days)

$1000.00 will provide breakfast for 133.3 children for 1 week

$1000.00 will provide local staffing of our temporary center in Wakefield, Trelawny to provide education in the schools and work with diabetic support groups for 10 weeks!