Don’t Sugarcoat Diabetes: Addressing Diabetes Prevention among High School Students in South Texas (Preprint)

Abstract

Diabetes is a significant public health issue in South Texas. Educating children from an early age can significantly impact the prevalence of Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the community.

Don’t Sugarcoat Diabetes (DSD) is an interactive diabetes prevention-focused educational program designed to increase knowledge of the disease, prevention strategies, and healthy lifestyle practices among South Texas high school students.

The hour-long interactive DSD diabetes prevention program addressing clinical progression, treatment, and prevention of T2DM was presented via Zoom™ to high school students across Bexar and Hidalgo counties (N=150). The students completed the electronically administered demographics survey and the 23-item Michigan Diabetes Research Knowledge Test (MDRKT) before and after DSD program participation. Data were analyzed for differences in pre and post-scores.

Most of the high school student participants were female (73%) and Hispanic (89%). The mean score on the knowledge test at baseline was 11/23 (48%) which was significantly increased to 17/23 (74%, p <0.001) after the DSD presentation. The students showed significant improvements (p <0.05) in scores for 16 items of the survey.

The baseline data showed a general lack of knowledge of T2DM in this high school population, which was improved following DSD program participation. These findings suggest the need to educate high schoolers on T2DM and the usefulness of the DSD program. Further dissemination of the program is recommended as well as studies on its long-term effects in the high school population.