World Diabetes Day celebration

UTICA » Oneida County employees gathered outside of the County Office Building in Utica recently to form a “Human Blue Circle” in honor of World Diabetes Day.

Dressed in blue — the color that represents diabetes awareness — the group encircled the Oneida County logo on the sidewalk of the Park Avenue side of the building.

The County Office Building was also lit blue for World Diabetes Day and will remain blue for the remainder of November, which is National Diabetes month.

“One in 11 Americans has diabetes, and in the last 20 years, the number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than tripled,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. “Making small, healthy changes to our diets and lifestyle as we age can go a long way toward preventing the onset of this terrible disease, which is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.”

According to the Cen- ters for Disease Control and Prevention:

•More than 30 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and one in four of them don’t know they have it.

•More than 84 million U.S. adults—over a third— have prediabetes, and 90 percent of themdon’t know they have it.

•Type 2 diabetes accounts for about 90- 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes; Type 1 accounts for about 5 percent.

•An estimated 1.5 mil- lion adult New Yorkers (9.8 percent) have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Getting regular medical checkups and closely monitoring blood pressure and cholesterol are keys to preventing the onset of diabetes, according to the CDC.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Oneida County employees celebrate World Diabetes Day in Utica, N.Y.