It's a New Year - help your patients keep their healthy resolutions!

With the New Year, many people make resolutions to eat better, exercise more, lose weight, or quit smoking.  This is a great opportunity for health care providers and public health organizations to support healthy lifestyles that help prevent and manage type 2 diabetes.

Resources available on the Diabetes Information Resource Center (DIRC) to help your patients include MyPlate: an interactive website for nutrition and physical activity planning, based on the latest federal guidelines; and Diabetes, Smoking, and Your Health: a patient flyer about the benefits of quitting smoking and the free cessation support available from the California Smokers' Helpline at 1-800-NO-BUTTS.  These resources are available in Spanish and other languages.

And now available for organizations, CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation has launched a new program - the National Diabetes Prevention Program - as part of its efforts to reverse the increase in new cases of type 2 diabetes nationwide.  The program's key component, a structured lifestyle intervention, has been proved effective in helping participants at high risk for type 2 diabetes lose a moderate amount of weight and increase their physical activity.  In early 2012, the National Diabetes Prevention Program will be recognizing evidence-based programs.  There are many benefits to applying for recognition including being listed in a comprehensive registry of evidence-based lifestyle change programs across the United States, receiving technical assistance to enhance your program's impact, and the potential of receiving third-party reimbursement for program delivery.