( Nebraska Radio Network)-- More than one-third of Nebraska's population is either diabetic or prediabetic and a new campaign being launched here hopes to reverse the dangerous trend. Dr. David Grayson Marrero, past-president of the American Diabetes Association, says they're focusing on the several hundred-thousand Nebraskans who are prediabetic with the goal of getting them to make a few key changes that could mean saving their lives.

Dr. Marrero says prediabetes can be headed off before it worsens. Modest changes such as losing 5-10 percent of your body weight, increasing physical activity to 150 minutes a week, which equates to walking 30 minutes a day can help reduce your risk of diabetes 60-70-percent. 

Studies find about 160-thousand Nebraskans, or about 11-percent of the population, has diabetes and perhaps 30-percent of them don't know it as they haven't been diagnosed.

There are several long-term risks of prediabetes, including stroke, heart attacks, blindness and amputation. Dr. Marrero says lifestyle changes like a better diet and more exercise can significantly reduce the risk for a person who's prediabetic.