DC Health and Academic Prep Program (DC HAPP)

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  HeartSmart: App-Based Implementation for Women with Cardiovascular Diseases

  Briana Alfaro-Funes, Camilo Peña, Chelsea Vasquez, Folasade Jackson, and Nicholas Williams

  Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, at a rate of 1 in every 5 female deaths. In the United States about 35% of women have an illness related to CVD like hypertension, lack of physical , and high blood cholesterol level. Since 1984, the number of deaths of women caused by CVD has surpassed the number of deaths in men as women makeup 52.6% of the total number of deaths caused by CVD in the United States (Zhang, 2010). There are many factors like oral contraceptives and menopause that can put women at higher risk for CVD. Cardiovascular diseases in women can be seen differently than in men, and there's many factors that create this large gender disparity. Women experience different symptoms, risk factors, misdiagnosis, and treatment which can impact a woman's outcome compared to men. It is very important for women to be aware of these risks, advocate for their health, and seek attention when they experience symptoms of cardiovascular diseases. Addressing this gender disparity and unique challenges women face can improve outcomes and reduce the reduce the number of deaths related to CVD (Zhang, 2010).

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  Feeding the Future: Reducing Food Insecurity in Southeast DC

  Kimaya Davis, Brooke Oliver, Noam Procunier, Kateryn Rivera, and Anthony Ventura

  A food desert is a region where people have limited access to healthful or affordable food usually due to low income and low vehicle access. Food insecurity also has to do with food deserts as food insecurity is a lack of safe and nutritious food for normal growth and development to live a healthy life. Food deserts are relevant because without access to healthy foods people living in food deserts might be at a higher risk of diet related conditions like obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Research from the American Board of Physician Specialities suggests that eating local can help someone avoid or reverse a variety of illnesses that can both shorten your lifespan and diminish your quality of living, such as diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, hypertension, and even many different types of cancers. Our method to address food insecurity in Southeast DC is to implement farmers’ markets in places with higher needs. We feel like this will help because people will finally start getting the healthy food they need to live a long and healthy life.

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  Project Hydration: A Clean Drinking Water Solution for Washington, D.C.

  Djenaba Diallo, Matthew Liu, Miqueas Ramirez De La Rosa, Syieda Tomlinson, and Zaniya Willson

  Water pollution is a global issue that has been ongoing since 1800 (NOAA,2024). Water pollution occurs when harmful substances, mostly chemicals or microorganisms, contaminate a stream, river, lake, ocean, aquifer, or other body of water, creating harmful water quality and rendering it toxic to humans and the environment. D.C. has faced ongoing challenges with lead contamination in its drinking water. As of 2024, D.C. Water still has tens of thousands of lead service lines (D.C. Water, 2024). Lead is a poisonous metal in small amounts in the earth's crust. On May 8, 2024, D.C. issued a boil water advisory due to water pollution, stating that the water was of "unknown quality," (D.C. Water, 2024). Another boil water advisory was lifted on July 4 as people continued to boil their water out of fear of contamination. Project Hydration will combat this with a "hydration" filtration kit that would detox the water of all harmful chemicals, like lead and E-Coli. This six-month program will initially target one hundred Ward 7 residents. Project Hydration would give D.C. residents peace of mind and the ability to have safe water to drink and bathe in.

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  N.U.R.T.U.R.E: Neutralizing Unsafe Risks Through Unique Responsive Environmental Care

  Clara Durante, Easton Duppins, Feven Eskinder, Hiba Mohammed, and Faith Niranoluwa

  Environmental factors can be distinguished by physical, chemical, biological, behavioral, and socioeconomic categories. Each category has its own individual effect on human health. These environmental factors play a critical role in determining the health outcomes of pregnancies, influencing both maternal and fetal well-being. This project aims to empower pregnant women by providing comprehensive support and education on mitigating environmental risks. Environmental factors have a significant impact on pregnancy outcomes, specifically among women from lower socioeconomic status (SES) background. Low SES is linked with increased exposure to harmful environmental toxins, high stress levels, limited access to healthcare, which contribute to pregnancy outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and congenital defects (Verbeek, 2019). Women with low SES often report high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression; these conditions have been linked with higher risks of preterm labor and hypertension (NIH, 2023). Additionally, exposure to certain daily cleaning products that contain toxic chemicals can lead to complications during pregnancy including respiratory issues, allergies and skin irritation, hormonal disruptions, and developmental and birth defects. Cleaning chemicals are a crucial component of environmental factors, particularly in the indoor environment. These chemicals can contribute to indoor air pollution, contaminate surfaces, and be absorbed through skin contact or inhalation, directly impacting the immediate living environment of pregnant women. Pregnant women need to avoid chemicals and products containing Ammonia and Bleach, Spray and aerosol cleaners, Phthalates, Air fresheners, Glycol ethers, Triclosan (Toxic household products, 2023). Water pollution, exacerbated by climate change, poses additional risks, including gastrointestinal illnesses and miscarriage (EPA, 2023). Moreover, maternal exposure to air pollutants have been associated with pregnancy complications, adverse birth outcomes including preterm birth and low birth weight. Exposures can affect fetal development and neurodevelopment in offspring (NIH, 2024).

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  Field Days Against Flu Days: Decreasing Missed School Days in the D.C. Metropolitan Area due to Influenza

  Elyana Belete, Evan Bowie, Maria - Carmen Miko, and Raymond Weeden

  The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that about 290,000 to 650,000 people worldwide are affected annually by the flu (WHO, 2023). Children ages 0–17 are more prone to contracting the flu due to increased contact with other individuals in daycare and grade school as they are more likely to put their hands in their mouths and less likely to practice proper hygiene. Additionally, they have less developed immune systems to fight off infections (CDC, 2020). This leads to an increased likelihood of catching an illness that can spread from person to person compared to adults. According to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report by DC Health, 2022–2023, the highest number of cases are being reported in 2023; so far, there have been 3,174 cases for ages 0–24 this flu season (“Influenza Surveillance Dashboard”). Our main goal is to raise awareness by providing education and free resources to address childhood influenza rates and increase the number of vaccinations within the DC metropolitan area. Another factor for the low rates is parental and guardian hesitancy about the Influenza vaccine throughout the nation.

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  T2 DC: Transitional Support for Adolescents with ASD

  Priscila de la Cruz, Charli Gipson, Carys Kirlew, and Keelin Lagos

  Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined by the CDC as a developmental disorder within the brain5. Throughout the nation, 1 in 36 children experience ASD, boys being four times more prevalent than girls. ASD has nonbehavioral effects such as gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, seizures, or sleep disorders, amongst many other mental side effects1. Recent studies have associated a lack of resources with feelings of isolation, difficulty in accomplishing daily activities, and many more negative impacts for individuals with ASD. As ASD is lifelong, we want to facilitate a smooth transition into adulthood as there are limited resources in DC for young adults with autism. Due to the disproportionate number of resources in Wards 7 and 8, the location of a local library is best to incorporate more sites in the most impacted wards. Wards 7 and 8 have a majority of brown and black population who are more susceptible to an ASD diagnosis.

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  Who’s Hangry?: Food Insecurity and Psychosocial Adjustment in D.C. Teens

  Robert Price, Andrea Murillo, David Whittington, Jelani Garrett, and Jordan Ray

  About 19,430 children in Washington D.C. experience food insecurity every day (Oliver, 2022). This is equivalent to 1 in 7 children in the area. According to WUSA, a news channel; food insecurity has been proven to lead to grave behavioral and emotional issues that can impair mental health and make it difficult for students to adjust to social situations (WUSA, 2017).We are excited to announce a new program that will help tackle food insecurity in public high schools in wards 7 & 8. The program’s name is DC Creating Overall Optimism in Kids (DC COOKs). The goal is to provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to cook easy and nutritious meals, even if they do not have access to a grocery store. When teenagers face economic stressors like food insecurity, it can have a significant impact on their emotional and behavioral functioning. While the direct effects of food insecurity on adolescent growth are clear, it is also likely that these stressors work indirectly to affect psychosocial adjustment. It is important to address these issues and provide support to help adolescents navigate this challenge because the consequences of ignoring these struggles can lead to less energy for complex social interactions, inability to effectively adapt to environmental stress, feeling physically unwell, and possibly developing mental health disorders or chronic illness (Thomsen, 2021). By offering these cooking classes, students will be empowered and given the tools they need to make healthy choices which will improve their overall psychosocial well-being. Moreover, the program will reduce food insecurity in the home causing an improvement in teen psychosocial adjustment. Every student deserves access to healthy food, and this program will make it a reality.

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  Mind Match: A Holistic App-Based Intervention for Post-Pandemic Adolescent Mental Health

  Irene Xinyuan Hu, Hoyt King, Samara Lynch, and Nyla Thomas

  The global COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine measures had profound implications for the mental well-being of adolescents. Studies have shown that adolescents who received MRIs post-pandemic demonstrated more severe mental health problems (Gotlib et al, 2021). As of 2021, more than 36% of DC youth who have depression did not receive any mental health care (NAMI, 2021). These statistics underscore the urgent need to address the mental health challenges faced by teenagers, particularly those from underrepresented backgrounds with limited access to mental health services (Mental health disparities: Diverse populations, 2017). In response to the downstream effects of COVID-19 on underrepresented adolescents' mental health, our program, Mind Match, offers a comprehensive approach. It incorporates a mental health curriculum, an online certificate program, and a peer mentorship program. These components are facilitated through an innovative mental health monitoring application called Here 4 You, which also serves as a centralized platform for mental health support. Underclassmen engage in self-directed lessons, while upperclassmen can choose to become certified mentors for their peers. To monitor progress, our app will include a quarterly survey assessing depression, anxiety, social connectivity, and mental health knowledge. We will track academic performance, attendance, and in-school health resource utilization. With adequate funding, our app has the potential to mitigate the adverse effects of COVID-19 on adolescent mental health, making it an invaluable addition to school environments.

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  Healing With Feeling: Addressing Substance Abuse in Teens During the Covid-19 Pandemic

  Gisselle Amaya, Xunashy Lopez, Gabby Olumilua, Mbange Palle, and Kendra Williams

  In recent years, substance abuse among teenagers has steadily increased since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Teen substance abuse related deaths have only continued to rise since then; with nationwide substance abuse related deaths being 1,146 in 2021, a sharp increase from the 954 deaths in 2020 (UCLA health, 2022). Teen substance abuse is determined by many factors, such as mental health, home/school environment, etc. In order to cope with these difficult emotions, teenagers turn to drug use to numb the feeling. Studies have shown that art based therapy and afterschool programs are effective in mitigating the risk factors for teen substance abuse (OJJDP, 2016). In accordance with this research, we have decided to utilize the arts (writing, studio art, etc) to prevent adolescents from using drugs to cope with difficult emotions.

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  Advocate Against Adversity

  Melany Kelly, Hermela Shimels, Zariah Bailey, and Kennedy Carter

  Our project is focused on the social determinants of maternal healthcare throughout urban areas in the United States and, more specifically, the different wards in DC. This project aims to shed light on how racial and ethnic disparities, in addition to other social determining factors, are contributing to high infant mortality rates in the DC area. It also proposes potential public health initiatives that seeks to address and combat these differences.

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  Black vs. White: What is Bipolar Disorder?

  Delmy Mendoza, Kendall Childs, Maedot Aklilu, and Tynise Phillips

  This intervention will show that underdiagnosing and misdiagnosing mental health disorders can be prevented by creating more high school medical pipeline programs and encouraging POC students interested in healthcare to participate in diversifying the healthcare system. Pipeline programs have shown to be beneficial in increasing the numbers and quality of underrepresented ethnic minority applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, and achievement motivation. For example, the pipeline program The Teen Medical Academy created in 2008 combated unrepresentative health disparity in adolescents by successfully improving interest in medical and allied health careers, confidence in their ability to accomplish a health profession, learning surgical and clinical skills, and creating a sense of belongingness in a health career. Aside from pursuing a health profession, results showed a higher grade point average and more involvement in extracurricular health career programs. Our program intervention, DC HPIPUS aims to overcome the issue of disparity in healthcare when it comes to POC teens in the aspect of mental health and wellness.

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  Suppressing Depression: Raising awareness for depression in teens

  David Whittington, Hiwot Ayalew, Kierra Jones, and Oscar Colindres

  About 13.3% of the U.S. population aged 12 to 17 has been diagnosed with at least one major depressive episode [1]. 14.3% of the DC population suffers from diagnosed depression [8]. It is important to note that most people with depression don’t seek clinical help. Many factors lead to depression among teens and adults including poverty, unemployment, lack of access to health care, and genetics. DC is one of the most segregated places in the U.S. Employment rates, wages, parks, and museums are deeply segregated resources within different wards. Wards 5, 7, and 8 have the highest rates of depression among adolescents in comparison to wards 2 and 3. This is due to the lack of resources invested in wards 7 and 8 compared to wards 2 and 3 [1]. In this study, we evaluated resource availability in the DC wards impacts the mental health of adolescents. This showed us which areas in DC are greatly focused on and prioritized when it comes to the well-being of people. In our research we found that in wards 7 and 8, where poverty and unemployment are the highest, depression rates are also increased [1]. In wards 2 and 3, where employment rates and wages are high, depression rates are decreased[1]. Our main goal is to raise awareness of how these factors impact the mental well-being of adolescence as well as advocate for equity.

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  Community Health Project: Addressing Obesity during Covid-19

  Jaliyah Abdul-Haqq, Ezinne Anyanwu, Zaniyah Bailey, and LaChae Jones

  Obesity is commonly known to affect 27% of adults in the United States (Wadden et al., 2002). The medical condition is the result of not eating healthy, little to no exercise, genetics, medication and other factors (Cava et al., 2017). If adults that are obese do not treat the medical condition then there will be long term problems such as diabetes and cancer (Cava et al., 2017). “ In Seattle, a study of critically sick COVID-19 patients made comparative discoveries. This examination found that 85% of patients with obesity required mechanical ventilation, compared to 64% of patients without the condition. Additionally, 62% of the patients with obesity died of COVID-19, compared with 36% of those without obesity ” (Stefan et al., 2020). To combat that issue the purpose of our program is to provide a way to lose weight and become healthy while in a pandemic and staying safe at home.

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  COVID-19 Racial Disparities

  Christopher Brown, Hadara Sain, Karen Larios, and Nida Shah

  A pandemic has taken over the world. Many countries, including the U.S., have experienced a large mortality rate because COVID-19 is a danger to many people. The U.S. has experienced massive changes in society in order to protect people because everyone is at risk. However, COVID-19 poses a larger threat to minorities than most other people in the United States.

  Our community health project will provide solutions to both of these problems.

  First, our team will work with news stations to disseminate the statistics that minorities are more likely to catch and die from the virus. Once the problem is clear to minorities, they will look for solutions. Our team will then provide our “Virus Diet” which will decrease the likelihood of dying from the virus. The “Virus Diet” will provide the information that using things like alcohol, tobacco, and drugs are detrimental to your chances of beating the virus if you were to catch it. Then we will begin our “Stay Home, Stay Safe” program which will provide stay at home jobs to substitute service sector jobs in order to limit the risk of catching and spreading the virus.

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  Homeless Medical Assistance Program (HMAP)

  Alaya Chubb, Iris Reyes, Medisa Roghani, and Kristen Silas

  As stay-at-home orders sweep across the United States, not everyone can adhere. People affected by homelessness struggle to find a place to remain healthy and invulnerable to a rising pandemic. The District of Columbia’s homeless population rises to 6,500 people and poses the most risk for COVID-19 because of the lack of resources available in the city, preexisting health conditions, and substance dependency. Some homeless people with a respiratory condition face a greater likelihood of developing a severe reaction from COVID-19 (Vredevoe, 1992). Furthermore, the homeless population tends to face a mortality rate from five to ten times higher than the general public (Roncarti, 2018). In order to combat these possibilities, we propose a pilot program focusing on providing necessary assistance to vulnerable populations from the ages 35 to 65. Our program, Homeless Medical Assistance Program (HMAP), aims to reduce the number of COVID-19 cases by placing homeless individuals in stadiums with adequate distance, administering food without direct contact, and proving mental healthcare.

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  D.C.S.O Community Health Proposal Against COVID-19 - Public School System

  Dawit Teshome, Abenezer Abebe, Emy Nwadiaro, and Kenndi Curtis

  D.C. is a community with a rich culture that’s extremely sundry and diversified. When the COVID-19 epidemic hit, all of us were stopped in our tracks. It affected our everyday lives. However we never asked the question, is there an epidemic taking place right in our own community. Asthma influences almost 1 out of every 10 kids. It is a widely known and exceptionally treatable malady (McDade, 2014). To ensure that students with asthma get adequate care during the school year and to combate the threat of COVID-19 during the year, we propose the following:

  • To equip either classrooms or floors, especially for kids with asthma, with air purifiers that are going to circulate clean air so that they do not have any triggers like smells or mold

  • Plan to make a questionnaire that every student has to answer before entering the school in the morning to help know of COVID-19 exposure and students with asthma.

  • Train D.C. public schools teachers with C Diff cleaning procedures.

  • After school programming that provides students with masks, soap, and hand sanitizers to take home.

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  Teen Pregnancy Prevention: Nine Minutes to Avoid Nine Months

  Natalie Custodio, Ronaldo Gomez, Katherine Mejicanos-Portillo, and Jalen Templeman

  The United States is one of the most developed nations with one of the highest rates of teen pregnancy. Although there has been a reduction in teen pregnancy nationally, areas in DC such as Wards 5, 7 and 8 still have teen birth rates above the national rate. The objective for our project is to provide a targeted-intervention to decrease teen pregnancy rates by increasing awareness of safe sex practices, contraceptive methods and STIs/HIV. Our program will provide a 9-minute session on sexual health at chosen schools and youth organizations in Wards 5, 7 and 8 to target 11 to 19-year-old youths. Further, we plan to assess our plan by providing satisfaction surveys to participants at the end of each session. We will also encourage youths to follow us on Instagram to spread the word about sexual education. The project aims to be a safety net for those adolescents who have not been exposed to sexual health education. We will apply the Health Belief Model (HBM) to our program to ensure that we address perceived susceptibility, perceived severity and perception of barriers all with the goal of improving the self-efficacy of our participants. We hope to impact these communities to ultimately reduce the teen pregnancy rates, and improve sexual health education and access in adolescents in DC.

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  Better Bone Health: Health Community Clinic

  Naijah Hughes, Dakota Turnage, Kintara Williams, and Christopher Fangna

  Osteoporosis affects the quality of life, the ability to work, and basic activities of daily living. Osteoporosis is a disease marked by reduced bone strength leading to an increase in fractures. Every day, our body breaks down old bone and puts new bone in its place. As we get older, our bones break down more bone than they put back. If you do not take the steps to keep your bones healthy, you may lose too much bone and osteoporosis may develop. Men and women are both affected by osteoporosis. In the United States, an estimated 5.3 million people aged 50 years and older have osteoporosis. Most of these people are women, creating 4.5 million of the people in the United States and the other 0.8 million people are men. Over 34 million people have low bone mass, which puts them at an increased risk. There are many factors that contribute to osteoporosis and fractures. Nutrition and physical activity are important controllable risk factors that will help reduce the risk of the disease. Osteoporosis is largely preventable. An osteoporosis treatment program includes a focus on proper nutrition, exercise, safety issues, and lifestyle changes to prevent or slow further progress of osteoporosis and reduce the risk of future fractures.

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  HIV Intervention for the DC Community

  Evelyn Rosales, Elias Belhocine, Daniel Ndagha, and Tiana Young

  Before the 1980s, the world had little to no knowledge about HIV. Now there has been research conducted on HIV/AIDs that has helped people prevent and be aware of their status. However, there is still an increasing amount of HIV cases in adults (18-34), especially in DC communities. Such disparities in HIV cases occur based on people’s race, gender, sexual orientation, income and geographical location. The social determinants of health also play a role in these cases such as poverty, access to care, stigma and racism. Our program will tackle these issues by providing an emphasis on existing programs by making counseling, screening, condoms, and HIV tests accessible to everyone especially to residents in Wards 5, 7, and 8. This will all be done via various platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Also, using aesthetically pleasing pamphlets that will portray information on HIV and strategies to prevent any new HIV cases from arising.

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  Project Anacostia

  Lapoldeon Williams, Abenezer Lemma, Janae Thomas, and Kafoued Ouedraogo

  Objectives Project Anacostia aims to [1] help meet the Healthy People 2020 goal of reducing the disease burden of diabetes mellitus (DM) and improving the quality of life for all persons who have, or are at risk for, DM as outlined by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. [2] To increase community awareness of the social determinants of health related to obesity and diabetes. [3] Increase access to recreational facilities and healthy food options in Wards 7 &8 and [4] promote healthy lifestyle choices among youth in the Anacostia community.

  Methods Our intervention is comprised of three progressive steps, which will be implemented as a revitalization of the Anacostia Recreation Center. The first phase is an information session to educate community members on the goals, importance and proposed impact of this project, as well as provide didactic information on the pathophysiology, epidemiology and consequences of obesity and diabetes in their communities. The second phase is to increase healthy food access by creating a community garden containing organically grown fruits and vegetables. Lastly, we will implement a calisthenics park which would serve to encourage and enable community members to participate in bodyweight exercises . Proposed Impact In the short term, we propose that this intervention would serve to improve local health literacy, increase community awareness on obesity and diabetes pathophysiology and the social determinants underlying these diseases, increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables sourced from the organic gardens and finally, increase levels of physical activity and exercise among Anacostia youth. In the long term, we anticipate that this intervention will lead to decreased BMI’s (Body Mass Index) of participating adolescents and communities at large.

  Discussion Through addressing food access, health literacy and built environment, our intervention aims to minimize the disease burden of obesity and diabetes in the Anacostia community. Targeting the stark disparities in health status at the level of social determinants offers a sustainable and impactful avenue through which the many other underserved, underrepresented communities nation-wide may improve their health status and develop into thriving populations.

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  Reducing Mental Illness in DC Adolescents

  Chidi Anita, Cindy Kabore, Ezechinyere Njoku, and Sabrina Sanabria-Lawrence

  DC high school students and adolescents from ages 12 to 17 suffer more from mental illnesses than adults and children ages 12 and under (Putzer, 2016). The prevalence of depression in high school adolescents in DC is above the (nationwide) baseline (Putzer, 2016). The rate of suicide attempts in teenagers in the DC Metropolitan area is 13.4%, which is a decrease from 2015, but still higher than the baseline by 3.0% (Putzer, 2016). Similarly, the rate of major depressive episodes (MDEs) in teens local to DC is 7.4%, which continues to be higher than the baseline by 0.9% (Putzer, 2016). The DC Healthy People target for adolescent suicide rates is 5.0%, and the target rate for MDE’s is 5.8% (Putzer, 2016).

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  Everything 4 Youth

  Betelhem Assefa, Eliah Blakeney, Selam Bulti, and Mercedes Butler

  The importance of positive role models cannot be emphasized enough. Seeing people from similar circumstances excel and help you make smart choices can be a powerful tool in improving your life. Mentorship, especially in marginalized communities, can help young people stay in school, avoid risky behavior and give them the tools to deal with the struggles they face.

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  DC Teen Health Program (DC THP)

  Djibril Fall, Matthew Holt, Ryneisha McKenzie, and Zari Ventura

  Target Population: African-American adolescents aged 13-20 residing in Wards 7 and 8 of Washington, DC. ● Health Issue: Lack of access to health care such as, health literacy, transportation, and available health resources. The health disparity/issue that we are targeting is the lack of access to health care within Wards 7 & 8 that is specifically aimed at African American adolescents between the ages of 13-20 years of age. The lack of access to health care in these wards is important because it increases the risk of youth having long term health issues such as asthma or obesity, which can lead to hypertension and diabetes. This is imperative because the future of our youth is determined by their ability to see a provider and obtain the necessary preventive care. This health disparity affects many in the community because the majority of them are impacted with higher rates of death and more emergency department visits that could have been prevented with more access to healthcare providers. In order to effectively increase access to health care in Wards 7 & 8, we have created an interactive program that targets areas with little transportation, fewer clinics and creates a very accessible service.

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  Triple Threat: Free, Fit and Fun. Fighting Against Diabetes

  Elizabeth Lozano, Demia Clark, Emiyah Cofield, and Natai Jinfessa

  Diabetes affects 9.3% (29 million) of the entire U.S. population and is the 6th leading cause of death (CDC, 2014, Marcus, 2016). Type two diabetes is a form of diabetes which occurs as a result of the body decreasing insulin production or the body’s resistance to insulin action. 95% of the individuals diagnosed with diabetes have type two diabetes (Santos, 2017). Obesity, the condition of carrying extra fat in the body, is linked to type two diabetes. Data shows that 9 in 10 Americans living with type 2 diabetes have obesity (ASMBS, 2013). Additionally, 27% of the adults (86 million) in the United States are affected by prediabetes (Healthy People, 2017).