Kendall Simmons Blitzes Q-C For Diabetes Day
Former NFL player and Super Bowl champion Kendall Simmons will blitz the area to help tackle diabetes tonight on World Diabetes Day.
Simmons, who played with the World Champion New England Patriots, will be the featured speaker as the November Diabetes Support Group holds its monthly meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Hy-Vee, 2400 2nd Ave, Muscatine.
Simmons graduated from Auburn where he starred as a guard and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the New England Patriots, with whom he won a Super Bowl, and the Buffalo Bills. He was diagnosed with type one diabetes in his second NFL season.
Diabetes has become a growing epidemic in Iowa and particularly in Muscatine county, said Kim Seligman, executive director of the Muscatine Diabetes Walk Project. According to the Muscatine County Health Improvement Plan 2015-2018, 36 percent of Muscatine county residents (about 15,000 people) are considered obese, with a Body Mass Index over 30 (under 24 being the general norm) giving the county a rating of 97th out of 99 counties. Obesity is considered a high risk determining factor in developing adult diabetes. In addition, 11.4 percent of the population of Iowa (over 300,000 people) are at high risk of developing adult diabetes.
“These events are to help combat that,” Seligman said. “Education and lifestyle changes are the biggest ways for us to combat diabetes and events like this are for people to become educated on what they can do to help prevent that and help themselves.”
The public is invited to attend and the free event open to youth and adults.
For more information, see www.MuscatineDiabetesWalk.com.
