As the number of Montana residents with diabetes continues to grow, Tribal Health of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes is set to offer a lifestyle-change program to counter the trend.

PreventT2 is a lifestyle coach-guided program that aims to help participants prevent or delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes. Brenda Bodnar, the CSKT Health and Wellness Division director, said the program focuses on teaching participants how to make lasting changes such as finding a healthy weight, being more active and managing stress to avoid becoming a statistic.

“One in three American adults has prediabetes, so the need for prevention has never been greater,” Bodnar said.

While Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes share the issue of high blood sugar levels, in Type 2 diabetes — the more common diagnosis — the body is born with enough insulin, but a series of triggers, such as an unhealthy diet, ultimately make the body resistant to it.

Type 1 is believed to be a combination of genes a person is born with and something in the environment that triggers the genes to become active.

PreventT2 groups meet for a year — weekly for the first 6 months, then twice a month for the next 6 months to maintain healthy lifestyle changes.

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting Montanans, and it’s growing.

About 63,600 Montana adults reported they were diagnosed diabetics, according to the state health department. The percentage of Montana adults with diagnosed diabetes increased from 2.8 percent in 1990 to 7.9 percent in 2015.

But according to the American Diabetes Association, the number of people with the disease is greater than what’s reported.

More than 96,200 people in Montana — or 10.9 of the adult population — has the disease, according to the association. Of those, an estimated 26,000 have diabetes but don’t know it.

Diabetes disproportionately affects American Indians and Alaska Natives in Montana. In 2014, 20 percent of American Indian or Alaska Natives in Montana were diagnosed with diabetes. In comparison, roughly 8 percent of white non-Hispanics reported having the disease.

People with prediabetes — higher-than-normal blood sugar levels — are five to 15 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than those with normal blood glucose levels, according to the CSKT Health and Wellness Division.

Bodner said the PreventT2’s group setting provides a supportive environment with people who are facing similar challenges and trying to make the same changes. Participants learn how to eat healthy, add physical activity to their routine, manage stress, stay motivated, and solve problems that can get in the way of healthy changes.

“Small changes can add up to a big difference,” Bodnar said. “Working with a trained lifestyle coach who provides guidance, PreventT2 participants are making lasting changes together.”

Classes will be held every Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. from Jan. 5 through April 20. From May 4 to July 13, classes will be held every other Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. All classes will take place in the upstairs boardroom of the Salish Kootenai Housing Authority in Pablo.

For more information about the PreventT2 program, contact Lynn Hendrickson, Recruitment/Retention Specialist for Tribal Health at [email protected] or 406-745-3525, ext. 5150.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at [email protected].