Sauk Prairie Healthcare - Prairie du Sac, 2025 Community Benefits
Sauk Prairie Healthcare Educates Area Students, Community Members About Healthy Eating Habits
More and more in the United States, the importance of healthy eating habits on our overall health is becoming apparent. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), a healthy diet:
Recognizing the need for healthy education in our communities, Sauk Prairie Healthcare offers several programs focused on nutrition. These programs are coordinated by Sauk Prairie Healthcare dietitians, supported by wellness, nutrition services, diabetes management, and cardiac rehab teams. Stir it Up In the Stir it Up program, dietitians from Sauk Prairie Healthcare, assisted by community volunteers, visit fourth graders at Merrimac Community School in Merrimac, Tower Rock Elementary School in Prairie du Sac and Lodi Elementary School in Lodi, as well as the after-school program at Tower Rock and the Sauk Prairie School District summer school program. The dietitians teach several students a healthy, kid-friendly recipe using fruits or vegetables, and then assist those students in presenting it to the rest of the class. Isaac Hoffmaster, RD, CDCES, Clinical Dietitian, says students regularly take recipes home and make them as a family. Eating for Life is an education program for adults that demonstrates how food choices support overall health. The program takes place once a month and discusses topics such as “Eating for Better Blood Sugar,” “Joint Health Inflammation” and “Mindful Eating.”
“The class began as a branch of another program, Diabetes Prevention,” said Hoffmaster. “Attendees of that program had so many questions, we thought these topics could benefit the greater community.”
Diabetes Prevention According to the CDC, in 2021, over 1 million Americans were diagnosed with diabetes, and nearly 98 million adults — 38% of the U.S. adult population — were diagnosed with prediabetes. Sauk Prairie Healthcare’s Diabetes Prevention program teaches individuals with prediabetes sustainable healthy habits, lowering their risk for type 2 diabetes. Along with personal and group coaching, the program includes a short-term fitness club membership and tips for healthy eating. The program is modeled, in part, on the National Diabetes Prevention Program and is proven by the CDC to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes for people at high-risk. In nine years of operation, the program has graduated 132 individuals. Hoffmaster recalls the success of one participant with an A1C of 6.3%. With dedication to the program, in three months, he lowered his A1C to 5.8%. Two years later, he still maintains the healthy habits he learned in the program.
- Lowers the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers
- Boosts immunity, strengthens bones and maintains a healthy weight
Recognizing the need for healthy education in our communities, Sauk Prairie Healthcare offers several programs focused on nutrition. These programs are coordinated by Sauk Prairie Healthcare dietitians, supported by wellness, nutrition services, diabetes management, and cardiac rehab teams. Stir it Up In the Stir it Up program, dietitians from Sauk Prairie Healthcare, assisted by community volunteers, visit fourth graders at Merrimac Community School in Merrimac, Tower Rock Elementary School in Prairie du Sac and Lodi Elementary School in Lodi, as well as the after-school program at Tower Rock and the Sauk Prairie School District summer school program. The dietitians teach several students a healthy, kid-friendly recipe using fruits or vegetables, and then assist those students in presenting it to the rest of the class. Isaac Hoffmaster, RD, CDCES, Clinical Dietitian, says students regularly take recipes home and make them as a family. Eating for Life is an education program for adults that demonstrates how food choices support overall health. The program takes place once a month and discusses topics such as “Eating for Better Blood Sugar,” “Joint Health Inflammation” and “Mindful Eating.”
“The class began as a branch of another program, Diabetes Prevention,” said Hoffmaster. “Attendees of that program had so many questions, we thought these topics could benefit the greater community.”
Diabetes Prevention According to the CDC, in 2021, over 1 million Americans were diagnosed with diabetes, and nearly 98 million adults — 38% of the U.S. adult population — were diagnosed with prediabetes. Sauk Prairie Healthcare’s Diabetes Prevention program teaches individuals with prediabetes sustainable healthy habits, lowering their risk for type 2 diabetes. Along with personal and group coaching, the program includes a short-term fitness club membership and tips for healthy eating. The program is modeled, in part, on the National Diabetes Prevention Program and is proven by the CDC to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes for people at high-risk. In nine years of operation, the program has graduated 132 individuals. Hoffmaster recalls the success of one participant with an A1C of 6.3%. With dedication to the program, in three months, he lowered his A1C to 5.8%. Two years later, he still maintains the healthy habits he learned in the program.
