New UK Type 2 diabetes prevention programme shows 'promising' early results

It comes weeks after Public Health England revealed there were five million people identified as being at high risk of the condition, in the build up to the roll out of the national NHS Diabetes Prevention program.

The new group education program called Let's Prevent Diabetes, developed by the Leicester Diabetes Centre, is a face-to-face program which covers the risks and implications of developing Type 2 diabetes as well as how to make lifestyle changes to prevent its progression.

Professor Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester's Leicester Diabetes Centre and Honorary Consultant, University Hospitals of Leicester, who has led the team developing the new program, said: "The early evidence is very promising because, as the only Type 2 diabetes prevention program specifically developed in the UK, Let's Prevent Diabetes has the potential to really make a difference.

"Type 2 diabetes is a serious condition where the body cannot keep blood glucose levels within a healthy range and can cause devastating complications. The most efficient way to address the problem of diabetes and its complications is to prevent it from developing -- taking a proactive rather than reactive approach."

Research carried out by the Leicester Diabetes Centre and published in the Journal of Public Health has reported on the progress on the development of Let's Prevent Diabetes.

The researchers concluded: "Qualitative and quantitative data suggested that intervention resulted in beneficial short-term behaviour change such as healthier eating patterns, improved health beliefs and greater participant motivation and empowerment. We also demonstrated that recruitment strategy and data collection methods were feasible."