Here’s a great way to get the new year off to a happy and healthy start – if you have a child with type 2 diabetes:Your Healthy Home Series (YHHS). 

YHHS is a 4-week series of video coaching sessions from Helaine Ciporen. Helaine is a licensed clinical social worker who counsels children and families at NYC’s Mount Sinai Hospital, Center for Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes. 

Even better news – the first 50 people who sign up get it for free! 

Your Healthy Home Series consists of 8 interactive emails, each with a short video followed by a questionnaire designed to help families better understand their needs, so that they can make the small changes that will lead to big changes in their health. One of the advantages of this online program is families are right in the environment where they need to make changes – their home – and now they can have the ongoing support and guidance they need.

Although increasing numbers of children are getting type 2 diabetes, due to escalating childhood obesity, there are few educational resources for parents and families. Helaine’s coaching program, as well as the educational web site she developed after years in the field, DiabetesFamilies.com, is one of those resources. 

Having a child with type 2 diabetes is a different struggle than having a child with type 1 diabetes — but it’s still a struggle for families. Your child has to eat differently and start getting active. And these lifestyle habits that need to change usually need to change for the whole family. 

Further, children with type 2 diabetes often get the same associated ills adults do with type 2:  high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. And if a child gets type 2 diabetes and doesn’t manage it, by time they’re in their thirties their quality of life is enormously compromised.

If you have a child with type 2 diabetes, check out the program and web site. If you know a family that has a child with diabetes, spread the word.