November is Diabetes Awareness Month. Type 2 diabetes is preventable and sometimes reversible. According to a 2016 study published in Diabetes Care, approximately 40 percent of people with type 2 diabetes can reverse their condition through changes in diet, exercise, and body weight. Newer studies have discovered that moderate, consistent lifestyle changes can prevent the disease or help manage diabetes well enough to slow down the risk of complications.

Not only does type 2 diabetes disproportionally affect adults in the Black community, but it also increasingly affects Black children and young adults. This may be one incentive for Black families to work together on a healthy lifestyle for everyone in their lives, including extended family members and friends.

Adults who make small but significant healthy changes in their lives can reduce the risk of getting type 2 diabetes or reverse prediabetes by lowering blood sugar. These consistent changes can also help adults living with type 2 diabetes to better manage their disease and avoid complications. When young people copy these healthy behaviors, they can prevent type 2 diabetes in their own lives and improve their quality of life.

The healthy behaviors for adults to display include maintaining as close to a normal weight as possible, moving more, eating healthy and not smoking. Keeping weight under control, even losing just five to ten pounds, can improve your health.

Moving more includes finding ways to enjoy physical activity with your loved ones:

-Balance sedentary play (reading or watching TV) with an activity that requires movement (tag, jump rope, hopscotch, or hide and seek).

-Set aside time each day for active play together such as playing catch, dancing around the living room, or walking in a local park.

-Give children toys that encourage movement such as balls, kites, hula hoops, Frisbees and jump ropes.

Healthier eating includes preparing foods with less fat, salt, and sugar. Many traditional African American dishes have been updated to versions that are lower in calories yet still flavorful. Check out MyPlate's Southern cooking recipes here.

Families on tight budgets report that the cost of healthy groceries is their biggest barrier to making healthy meals at home. Food skills, like smart shopping, can help overcome that barrier. Cooking Matters at the Store is a free program that teaches families how to stretch their food budgets so their children have healthy meals at home.

Children will watch what you do more than listen to what you say. Staying healthy is essential to life-long wellness and will help you become a positive role model for the young people in your life. Take a healthy first step and invite your kids to dance with you or to walk to a nearby park.