Madeira Beach, FL -- Defeat Diabetes Foundation a 501(c)(3) non-profit has developed a historic health curriculum for Martial Arts schools focusing on diabetes awareness and prevention.

 

The program is the result of a unique collaboration between Defeat Diabetes Foundation and The 100, spearheaded by Grandmaster Tom Callos.

 

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that one of every three children born after the year 2000 will get diabetes in their lifetime. For certain ethnicities - that number is 1 of every 2 children!!

 

Students of Martial Arts Schools are primarily children and young adults and this program is the first of its kind forum for delivering this vital, and potentially life-saving, knowledge to young people.

 

The curriculum includes information about the disease, the risk factors, warning signs, complications and ways to prevent the disease through attention to nutrition and physical activity. The Martial Arts schools will also be able to share this crucial information within their respective communities through local schools, youth groups and other civic organizations. The net result will be a visible and active resource for basic diabetes information, and the positive and healthy advantages of a martial arts education for both youngsters and adults.

 

Diabetes is a chronic and preventable health condition that has reached epidemic proportions in this country – 22 million Americans have diabetes and one third of them don’t know it. An additional 54 million are “pre-diabetic” and are at risk for developing the disease.

 

If this disease is allowed to continue unchecked we will have over 48 million people with diabetes by 2025. The cost to our communities, in dollars, is currently $225 billion annually and expected to rise exponentially.

 

An unmeasured cost is the human suffering caused by a host of debilitating complications of diabetes. These include blindness, amputations, kidney disease and failure, heart disease and strokes - to name only a few.

 

DDF is a nationally registered 501(c)(3) non-profit charity dedicated to creating awareness about and preventing diabetes. The Foundation provides accurate, up-to-date and practical information on the treatment and self-management of the disease on their website, which houses over 3,000 pages of beneficial information and through a free monthly online E-Lerts™ newsletter. They support public information programs, including the KIDD Project, which has provided 3 million Free Defeat Diabetes® Screening Test brochures to 5000 schools nationally, the DAN Project in memory of Dan Kerner, which has produced Public Service Announcements and, The Mr. Diabetesâ Wake Up and Walk® Tour a 10,000+ mile walk of the perimeter of the United States by Executive Director, Andrew P. Mandell – Mr. Diabetes®. He also holds a 1st degree Black Belt in Shaolin Kempo Karate and is a former Martial Arts School owner.

 

THE 100, led by Tom Callos, a well-known voice in the Martial Arts community www.tomcallos.com, are guided by the principle of bringing martial arts philosophy “Out of the Dojo and into the world”. THE 100 are made up of martial arts citizen-teachers who believe that through education and action ­they can make a difference in the world. The 100 are expanding the meaning and curriculum of self-defense education to include more than blocks, kicks, punches and throws. They embrace a brand of self-defense that includes awareness for the way we treat our planet, ourselves, our family, neighbors and community, and the way we consume, think and behave.

 

Contact: Dawn Swidorski Defeat Diabetes Foundation 415.671.2991 dswidorski@DefeatDiabetes.org