David G Marrero
Indiana University School of Medicine, USA
Posters-Accepted Abstracts: J Diabetes Metab
Objectives: In spite of solid evidence that risk for developing type 2 diabetes can be prevented by lifestyle interventions, it has been difficult to scale prevention research to address the growing public health demand. This study investigated if an already-scaled weight management program (Weight Watchers-WW) could achieve weight loss levels in persons with prediabetes. Methods: An individual, randomized intervention trial evaluated the effects of the WW program in 225 persons with prediabetes on weight and metabolic regulation compared with a program developed by the National Diabetes Education Program at baseline, 6 and 12 months. Results: Intervention participants lost significantly more weight than controls at 6 (5.6 % vs. 0.8%) and 12 months (5.6% vs. 0.1%); both p values<.0001). The intervention group also had significantly greater improvements in A1c and HDL than did controls. Conclusion: These data suggest that a scalable weight management program is effective for achieving lifestyle changes associated with diabetes prevention. Such scalable programs could significantly increase the availability of diabetes prevention programs worldwide making an immediate and significant public health impact.
Email: dgmarrer@iu.edu
