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YMCA of the USA, the nation’s leading non-profit service organization dedicated to healthy living, and UnitedHealth Group, a diversified health and well-being company, today announced a partnership to reduce the burden of diabetes in the United States. In this first of its kind collaboration, UnitedHealth Group will reimburse YMCAs offering the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program.

Currently, about 24 million Americans are living with diabetes and another 57 million have pre-diabetes. The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is designed especially for people at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Delivered in a group setting, it has been proven to cut participants’ chances of developing the disease by more than half.

This partnership marks the first time a health services company will reimburse a community-based organization for delivering a prevention program such as this.

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is based on the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which showed that with lifestyle changes and modest weight reduction, a person with pre-diabetes can prevent or delay the onset of the disease by 58 percent.

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine were able to replicate the successful results of the Diabetes Prevention Program in conjunction with the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis. Unlike the NIH’s program, which was conducted with individuals one-on-one, the YMCA’s program is conducted in a group setting.
The research conducted by the Indiana University researchers also proved that the YMCA could effectively deliver a group program for about 75 percent less than the cost of the original Diabetes Prevention Program. This research also highlighted the YMCA’s ability to deliver the program nationally.

The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program is being offered as part of UnitedHealth Group’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Alliance. YMCAs will receive reimbursement for each participant who is referred through the Alliance, with performance-based metrics built in that provide for a higher reimbursement when the desired weight loss is achieved.

In addition to partnering with UnitedHealth Group, YMCA of the USA is also working with CDC and elected officials championing prevention in Congress to bring the program to more communities and develop a national program to recognize proven diabetes prevention programs like the YMCA’s.

YMCA of the USA’s work with UnitedHealth Group will begin with seven YMCAs – Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn.; and Phoenix, Ariz. – and will expand throughout 2010 and beyond.

In these communities, the YMCA is committed to making the program available to everyone who meets program criteria, regardless of an individual’s insurance coverage. In addition, as evidence of UnitedHealth Group’s commitment to solving the nation’s diabetes crisis, the company is making the program available to other insurance companies and employer groups that are not its health insurance customers.

The goals of the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program are to help people with pre-diabetes achieve and maintain weight loss of at least 7 percent by eating healthy and increasing physical activity to 150 minutes per week. A trained lifestyle coach works with a group of participants for 16 core sessions to help them change their lifestyles. After these sessions, participants meet monthly for up to a year for added support in maintaining their progress.

This announcement comes on the heels of the historic health care reform legislation, which included a bi-partisan bill by Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., and Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., authorizing CDC to train and recognize community-based diabetes prevention programs like those being offered by the YMCA.

In addition to its commitment to the YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program, UnitedHealth Group is also pledging a $2.25 million, three-year grant to support YMCA of the USA’s healthy living efforts.

For more information, visit ymca.net.

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A new study finds that a self-guided, 12-week program helps binge eaters stop binging for up to a year and the program can also save money for those who participate. Recurrent binge eating is the most common eating disorder in the country, affecting more than three percent of the population, or nine million people, yet few treatment options are available.

But a first-of-a-kind study conducted by researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Wesleyan University and Rutgers University found that more than 63 percent of participants had stopped binging at the end of the program – compared to just over 28 percent of those who did not participate. The program lasted only 12 weeks, but most of the participants were still binge free a year later. A second study, also published in the April issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, found that program participants saved money because they spent less on things like dietary supplements and weight loss programs.

Binge eating has received a lot of media attention recently because the American Psychiatric Association is recommending that it be considered a separate, distinct eating disorder like bulimia and anorexia. This new diagnosis can be expected to focus more attention on binge eating and how best to treat it, according to the researchers. It also could influence the number of people diagnosed and how insurers will cover treatment.

This randomized controlled trial, conducted in 2004-2005, involved 123 members of the Kaiser Permanente health plan in Oregon and southwest Washington. More than 90 percent of them were women, and the average age was 37. To be included in the study, participants had to have at least one binge eating episode a week during the previous three months with no gaps of two or more weeks between episodes.

Half of the participants were enrolled in the intervention and asked to read the book “Overcoming Binge Eating” by Dr. Christopher Fairburn, a professor of psychiatry and expert on eating disorders. The book details scientific information about binge eating and then outlines a six-step self-help program using self-monitoring, self-control and problem-solving strategies. Participants in the study attended eight therapy sessions over the course of 12 weeks in which counselors explained the rationale for cognitive behavioral therapy and helped participants apply the strategies in the book. The first session lasted one hour, and subsequent sessions were 20-25 minutes. The average cost of the intervention was $167 per patient.

All participants were mailed fliers detailing the health plan’s offerings for healthy living and eating and encouraged to contact their primary care physician to learn about more services.

By the end of the 12-week program 63.5 percent of participants had stopped binging, compared to 28.3 percent of those who did not participate. Six months later, 74.5 percent of program participants abstained from binging, compared to 44.1 percent in usual care. At one year, 64.2 percent of participants were binge free, compared to 44.6 percent of those in usual care.

Everyone in the trial was asked to provide extensive information about their binge eating episodes, how often they missed work or were less productive at work, and the amount they spent on health care, weight-loss programs and weight loss supplements. Researchers also examined expenditures on medications, doctor visits, and other health-related services.

The researchers then compared these costs between the two groups and found that average total costs were $447 less in the intervention group. This included an average savings of $149 for the participants, who spent less on weight loss programs, over-the-counter medications and supplements. Total costs for the intervention group were $3,670 per person per year, and costs for the control group were $4,098.

For more information, visit kaiserpermanente.org.

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Since its release on March 1, 2010, Atkins Nutritionals, Inc.’s (“Atkins™”) newest book, The New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great (Fireside) by Dr. Eric C. Westman, Dr. Stephen D. Phinney and Dr. Jeff S. Volek, has held a place on leading book bestseller lists for 10 consecutive weeks.

The New Atkins for a New You debuted on The New York TimesBestseller List (Paperback Advice category) on March 21, 2010, and has spent 81 days to-date on Amazon’s Top 100 list in the Health, Mind & Body category.

The New Atkins for a New You details how science has transformed the Atkins Diet™ from what was once considered a fad into an established, medically validated, safe and effective treatment. Instead of a “bacon, egg, and cheese” diet, the new Atkins Diet promotes a wide variety of whole foods. These include multiple protein sources, as well as vegetables, low glycemic fruits and—as one approaches one’s goal weight—whole grains. This mix of foods keep you satiated longer, but eliminates the simple sugars and quickly digested carbohydrates that spike blood sugar.
Why take a look at The New Atkins for a New You?:

• It’s written by experts. No one knows more about low-carb nutrition than the book authors who have published more than 250 scientific papers in leading health journals.

• It destroys the myth that you don’t eat vegetables on Atkins. In fact, you can have at least five daily servings of high-fiber vegetables from the beginning of the diet. Vegetarians and vegans can fully embrace Atkins.

• It adapts Atkins to different ethnic cuisines. The new Atkins retains the flavors of ethnic cuisines, such as Latin American, Italian and Chinese, within your diet, while eliminating the starchy, sugary foods that can cause obesity and type 2 diabetes.

• It doesn’t deny you your favorite foods. Chocolate? Grains? The new Atkins understands cravings and provides realistic strategies to lessen them. In fact, in the later stages of Atkins, you can add chocolate, low-carb pasta and whole grains into the diet.

For more information, visit atkins.com.

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America’s sweetheart Valerie Bertinelli graced the July/August cover of AARP The Magazine, and exclusively announces her engagement to her boyfriend of six years, businessman Tom Vitale.
No stranger to adversity, Bertinelli navigated Hollywood as the child star of One Day at a Time, endured a rocky marriage and public divorce from rocker Eddie Van Halen, and has been vocal about her long struggle with her weight. At 50 years young, she now finds herself 30 pounds lighter and at the top of her game with a new television series, Hot in Cleveland, debuting this June. In a stunning six-page spread, a vibrant Valerie struts her stuff in ball gowns and bare feet and says, “I’ve never been a big age person. I’ve got the lines. I’m aging. But so what? Now is the best time of my life.”

On Getting Healthy, Physically and Mentally

“After Ed [ex-husband Eddie Van Halen] and I separated, I thought ‘I’ll finish raising my son, and I’ll go away, have about 40 cats, and just get nice and fat.’ I thought I would be alone for the rest of my life, because I didn’t want the responsibility. Relationships are too hard.”

“Valerie is a very strong woman,” says celebrity chef Rachael Ray, a close friend. “She pulled herself up from a tough place and came back swinging.”

“If I really want a piece of bread, I’ll have a bite or two, with butter. And I put sugar in my coffee. That’s what—an extra 12 calories? It’s all about portion control.”

For more information, visit aarp.org/magazine.

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