In a new study, researchers found that losing a few kilograms in weight could reduce people’s risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by up to 47%.
The findings show that how providing support to help people with prediabetes make small changes to their lifestyle, diet, and physical activity can almost halve the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
The research was conducted by a team at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the University of East Anglia.
The findings come from the Norfolk Diabetes Prevention Study (NDPS) — the largest diabetes prevention research study in the world in the last 30 years.
The study ran over eight years and involved more than 1,000 people with prediabetes at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
Researchers tested a simple lifestyle intervention, which helped people make small achievable lifestyle changes that led to a modest weight loss, and increases in physical activity.
Importantly, these changes were sustained for at least two years and the weight loss was not put back on.
The team found that support to make modest lifestyle changes, including losing two to three kilograms of weight and increased physical activity over two years, reduced the risk of Type 2 diabetes by 40% to 47%.
There are about eight million people with prediabetes in the UK and 4.5 million have already developed Type 2 diabetes.
These findings are important as they show that a ‘real-world’ lifestyle program really can make a difference in helping people reduce their risk of Type 2 diabetes.
One author of the study is Prof Mike Sampson.
The study is published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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