More than a third of patients at risk of developing type 2 diabetes avoided developing the condition after they were referred by their family doctor (GP) to a diabetes prevention program. The program was delivered by the commercial weight management provider, Weight Watchers, finds research published in BMJ Open Diabetes Research & Care.
‘Improving diet quality, reducing portion size, increasing physical activity levels, as well as boosting confidence in the ability to change and a commitment to the process reduced the risk of diabetes by 30%.’
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The initiative also helped more than half of those referred either to reduce their risk of developing diabetes or to get their blood sugar levels back to normal. The number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in the UK has increased from 1.4 to 2.9 million since 1996. A new diagnosis is made every 2 minutes, and by 2025, an estimated 5 million people will have the condition.
Risk of developing type 2 diabetes is strongly influenced by lifestyle factors, but can be significantly reduced by weight loss, achieved by eating less and exercising more.
And the UK's national health and social care guidance organisation, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says that certain commercial weight management providers, such as Weight Watchers, can help obese people to shed the pounds.
A US study showed that participation in a commercial weight management program succeeded in reversing progression to type 2 diabetes. But the effectiveness of this approach in UK primary care has not been fully evaluated.
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These patients were then invited to contact Weight Watchers to book a place on their diabetes prevention program, which included a 90-minute induction session followed by 48 weekly group meetings.
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The program focused on improving diet quality, reducing portion size, increasing physical activity levels, as well as boosting confidence in the ability to change and a commitment to the process.
Blood tests were repeated at 6 and 12 months to check on risk factors, and any changes in weight were recorded by Weight Watchers.
Analysis of the results showed that:
- the initiative led to an average fall in HbA1c (a measure of average blood glucose levels over several weeks) of 2.84 mmol/mol after 12 months to levels regarded as normal.
- Blood glucose levels also returned to normal in more than a third (38%) of the patients and only 3% developed type 2 diabetes after 12 months.
- The average weight loss amounted to 10 kg at the 12 month time point (a reduction in BMI of 3.2kg/m2).
Nevertheless, they conclude that the initiative has the potential to have considerable impact.
"A UK primary care referral route partnered with this commercial weight management provider can deliver an effective diabetes prevention program," they write.
"The lifestyle changes and weight loss achieved in the intervention translated into considerable reductions in diabetes risk, with an immediate and significant public health impact."
Source-Eurekalert