Novo Nordisk Approves Second Round of Grant Funding for Free Online Diabetes Prevention Programming

Jackson, MS

Beginning last spring, HabitNu offered the Diabetes Prevention Program, online, at no cost to Mississippi residents thanks to funding provided by Novo Nordisk. Now HabitNu has received additional grant funding to extend the Diabetes Prevention Program in Mississippi into 2021.

The spring 2020 program was a partnership between HabitNu and the University of Mississippi Jackson to combine HabitNu’s Diabetes Prevention Program platform with a biweekly produce delivery from Farm House to Your House and brought in low-income participants from across the city of Jackson, Mississippi. With the funding received from Novo Nordisk, HabitNu was not just able to provide our platform at no cost, but also address food insecurity among participants, which can be a massive hurdle to losing weight. Biweekly fresh produce and cooking lessons made a difference in the lives of almost a hundred people.

According to the CDC, if someone at risk for diabetes loses 5% of their body weight, the risk of developing type-2 diabetes is cut almost in half. In the April 2020 program, 44% of the HabitNu participants experienced weight loss between 4-12% with an average weight loss of 4.6% of their body weight. That came out to 33 Mississippians living healthier lives by joining the Diabetes Prevention Program, and it didn’t cost them a dime. Additionally, the Mississippi Department of Health found in a 2018 report that diabetes and prediabetes costs the state roughly $3.5 billion per year, which comes out to around $3,000 per patient. That means that every person who uses HabitNu’s Diabetes Prevention Program to reduce their risk of diabetes could save the state thousands of tax dollars every year. To learn more about how the HabitNu platform helped this group of Mississippians, please read the research study that resulted from this program.

With this grant, Novo Nordisk has recognized the fantastic work of HabitNu coaches and engineers, and also the Mississippi participants who worked so hard to get active and lose weight. We are excited to strengthen our connections within Jackson and to expand this program into more communities throughout the state of Mississippi. HabitNu can’t wait to start helping more Mississippians get active and lose weight.

Interested in joining? Visit https://www.msdpp.org/ to get started