STOCKTON, Calif. — Nearly 10% of people across the nation are living with diabetes, but in Stockton, nearly 60% of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes, according to the Public Health Institute.
The city's high rate of diabetes is why Abbott launched the "Food as Medicine" Program in 2021. Newly released study results show the program is changing lives.
Each step is a gift for program participant Shane Bailey.
“This is my best life at 72 (years old)," said Bailey. "This is my best life.”
Living with diabetes for more than a decade meant constant adjustments and setbacks.
"I couldn’t walk and breathe well," said Bailey. "Diabetes was acting up real bad, my heart needed to have a transplant.”
But now, a year after joining the program hosted at the San Joaquin Emergency Food Bank, life is different.
"I feel healthier," said Bailey. "My heart function and my diabetes are so controlled that I have reduced like five pills that I take.”
Instead of filling pill bottles, Bailey is filling up her healthy food box.
The food bank partners with DoorDash to deliver the free boxes of healthy ingredients every other week to program participants, like Bailey and some of her friends.
“Everybody is so excited about the box we get of food because food is expensive nowadays," said Bailey. "One person, we had a conversation about quinoa and dandelion. I had never eaten those before, so now I eat them."
Along with nutritious ingredients, the boxes come with recipes and fact sheets about the different vegetables and fruits.
Every other week, Alex Marapoa and her team at the Food Bank get in front of the camera to give cooking demonstrations and lessons in nutrition.
"It really gives them the opportunity to learn new foods, learn how to cook new items and really use nutrition to manage their diabetes," said Marapoa. "A lot of the comments I have been hearing and engaging with is that they're learning and they're really taking what they're learning and using it with these boxes and implementing this in their lives."
Results from a study on the first full year of the program showed that A1C levels decreased by 0.80%, considered a clinically significant change.
The study also found participants ate almost two more servings of fruits and vegetables per week.
Program directors are hoping to add on another 500 people to receive the free boxes and nutritional information. The only requirements to get involved are living in Stockton and having diabetes.
"These types of programs are very important within our community, addressing multiple social determinants to health," said Marapoa, a Stockton native. "It takes a community effort and I'm really satisfied with how our community has been working together to make this happen."
The study's results ring true for Bailey, who has a new way of handling being hungry and a new outlook on life.
“My go-to now is I carry apples in my purse so when I get hungry or my blood sugar goes low or something, I eat an apple instead of a candy bar or bag of chips," said Bailey. "I’m ready to live to 95, that’s what I’m putting out there in the universe.”
Watch more from ABC10: Stockton Food Bank serving more families than during COVID-19 pandemic
