Like most 14-year-old girls, Jessica Accomando is glued to her cell phone. But, along with the pink sparkly device, her glucose monitor is never far behind.

Jessica says,"it's just something that happens. You go on with life with it."

Jessica is one of 20 million Americans suffering from diabetes. One-third have a condition known as prediabetes.

"Dr. Naznin Dixit, a Pediatric Endocrinologist at Florida Children's Center for Endocrinology says,"Basically, what it is, it the blood sugar is not normal, but at the same time it's not high enough to call diabetes, so they're at the intermediate phase."

Being at that intermediate phase puts patients at risk for full blown diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

Dr. Naznin Dixit with the Florida Children's Hospital says many people don't show any symptoms, but

high risk adults and children include those who are over weight, have high cholesterol, or as in Jessica's case, have a family history of the disease.

She says pre-diabetes can be diagnosed through a blood test and the good news is it can be prevented or delayed.

Dr. Dixit said, "To some extent diabetes is a genetic problem, but for the most part it is environmental changes that happen in the lifestyle such as unhealthy eating and inadequate exercise."

Dr. Dixit says pre-diabetes is actually a stage that can be reversed by eating better and exercising more.

That's something Jessica wishes she did when she was younger. "They told me to watch what I ate...I didn't, so....."

That's a look at Your Health,

Nancy Gay, Central Florida News 13.