Logan County diabetes education class begins May 20

Confused about what to eat, when to eat, or how to handle a high or low blood sugar reading? A class beginning May 20 at Logan County Extension is aimed at the everyday decisions that make diabetes easier, or harder, to manage. The focus is on practical help for people living with diabetes or prediabetes, along with family members and caregivers who share meals, shopping trips and medication routines.

The class is built around the questions residents ask most often: what to eat, when to eat, why blood sugar runs high or low, when exercise helps and how medications fit into a daily schedule. That matters in Logan County, where a chronic condition like diabetes is managed mostly at home, between appointments, not in a clinic waiting room. The most useful part of this kind of education is that it can help people make one better choice after another, from breakfast through bedtime.

Colorado State University Extension has used the Dining with Diabetes model as a four-week series that combines nutrition education with hands-on cooking, menu planning, portion control, label reading and physical-activity guidance. In Weld County, that approach was bilingual and paired with grocery bags of ingredients so participants could practice at home, not just listen in a classroom. Fifteen people enrolled there, 10 completed pre- and post-evaluations, and average knowledge scores rose from 2.8 to 5.5 out of 7, a sign that the lessons stuck.

The need is not small. The American Diabetes Association estimates 34,456 people in Colorado are diagnosed with diabetes each year, 32.9% of adults have prediabetes, and another 117,000 Coloradans have diabetes and do not know it. The association also says diagnosed diabetes costs the state $3.6 billion annually. That statewide burden reaches rural counties like Logan, where residents often have to stretch food budgets, manage long drives for care and make daily health decisions with limited specialist access.

Residents who want to take part can contact Logan County Extension at 508 S. 10th Ave., Suite 1, in Sterling, or call 970-522-3200. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and appointments are recommended because staff are not always in the office. A fee was not listed in the class information. The broader point is clear: local diabetes education still fills an important gap, especially for people who want healthier meals without turning the grocery bill into another burden.