For Immediate Release
July 20, 2005

BCBSNC Contact:
Gayle Tuttle, (919) 765-3747
Mark Stinneford, (919) 765-3745

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation Awards Grants

WakeMed receives grant for pediatric pre-diabetes program

Chapel Hill, NC – The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) Foundation has awarded nine grants totaling more than $128,000 to nonprofit organizations that improve the health and well being of North Carolinians in communities across the state, including WakeMed Health & Hospitals Wake County.

Grants were awarded to programs focusing on community needs consistent with the BCBSNC Foundation's mission. The mission includes increasing access to health care for the uninsured and underinsured, eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities, encouraging physical activity, and promoting health screenings and education.

WakeMed was awarded $25,000 for the exercise component of Energize!, a program designed to help curb the rising rates of Type II diabetes among children. Energize! is a lifestyle change program that teaches at-risk children and their families the importance of nutrition and exercise for the prevention of diabetes.

Engergize! was established in response to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity/overweight in the United States that is producing secondary health problems such as pediatric metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes. Although there is little pediatric research on Type II diabetes, studies have demonstrated that among obese adults with pre-diabetes, Type II diabetes can be prevented or delayed through a program of diet and exercise. In addition to receiving nutritional counseling, Energize! participants attend a 10-week group fitness class three times a week at a local Triangle YMCA.

"This grant is making it possible for kids to get the help they need," said Jeanne Hutson, a registered nurse and diabetes educator with the program. "Previously, physicians would just say to kids 'Start exercising and lose weight.' Now we can give kids the tools they need to make exercise and eating right a part of their lives and hopefully avoid or at least delay the onset of Type II diabetes."

Additional grant recipients are:

• Alamance Regional Medical Center—awarded $16,140 to establish a faith-based diabetes program targeting minorities and high-risk groups in Alamance County.
• Crossworks Inc.—awarded $10,000 to establish a heart disease screening and education project aimed at African-American populations in the rural, economically distressed counties of Edgecombe, Nash and Halifax.
• Healthy Children of Rowan County—awarded $15,000 to establish a Type II diabetes screening and education program targeting children in Rowan County.
• KOALA Inc.—awarded $5,000 to provide adult day health care services to the elderly in Transylvania County.
• New Bern-Craven County YMCA Inc.—awarded $7,019 to measure outcomes of the Kids in Motion program, a healthy lifestyles and weight management collaborative in Craven County.
• North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation—awarded $25,000 to provide a parent/caregiver education project in 63 counties to reduce the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
• YMCA of Catawba County—awarded $10,000 to establish a physical activity and nutritional education program for overweight children in five western counties.
• YWCA of Asheville—awarded $15,000 to continue its diabetes services and educational outreach to underserved populations in Buncombe County.

"These organizations are doing important work, and it is essential that they be given the support they need to help promote and facilitate healthy living among North Carolinians," said Kathy Higgins, vice president of the BCBSNC Foundation. "We hope others are able to learn and grow from the example set by these great organizations."