Diabetes: Effect of Lifestyle Intervention on Weight Change

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 EH89AGMedicalResearch.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.

Effect of a lifestyle intervention on weight change in south Asian individuals in the UK at high risk of type 2 diabetes: a family-cluster randomised controlled trial

Prof Raj S Bhopal DSc,Anne Douglas MA,Sunita Wallia MSc,Prof John F Forbes PhD,Prof Michael E J Lean MD,Jason M R Gill PhD,John A McKnight MD,Prof Naveed Sattar FRCP,Prof Aziz Sheikh MD,Prof Sarah H Wild PhD,Prof Jaakko Tuomilehto MD,Anu Sharma MSc,Ruby Bhopal BSc,Joel B E Smith PhD,Isabella Butcher PhD,Prof Gordon D Murray PhD

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