23 Dec Diabetes: Effect of Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Change
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Prof. Raj S Bhopal
Bruce and John Usher Professor of Public Health
Edinburgh Ethnicity and Health Research Group,
Centre for Population Health Sciences,
University of Edinburgh, Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH89AG
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?
Prof. Bhopal: In a randomised controlled trial, a tailored, family orientated intervention whereby dietitians worked in the family home to provide diet and exercise advice in people at high risk of developing diabetes, had a modest but potentially important effect in reducing weight at the end of the three-year intervention, by 1.6 kg more than in the control group.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Prof. Bhopal: More than one fifth of the study population, including those in the intervention group, increased their weight by 2.5 kg or more over three years. A remarkable 98% of the study population of 171 people completed the three-year trial-that may well be a record in the context of trials of this kind.
MedicalResearch.com: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Prof. Bhopal: If people at high risk of developing diabetes e.g. because of impaired glucose tolerance or impaired fasting glucose, family orientated health promotion provided by trained health professionals would be a reasonable addition to the normal armamentarium of actions.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Prof. Bhopal: This is one of the first trials of its kind i.e. focused on ethnic minority populations in Europe. It shows that such trials are feasible, and the very high retention rates are promising. We need to improve the impact of such interventions and then evaluate how they work in routine clinical care.
The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology – 23 December 2013
DOI: 10.1016/S2213-8587(13)70204-3
Last Updated on December 23, 2013 by Marie Benz MD FAAD