Examples of our research

New life, New you

Cultural adaptation of the ‘New life, New you’ behavioural intervention for prevention of type 2 diabetes in Black and minority ethnic populations in an area of social deprivation

Purpose

Diabetes is a progressive disease with debilitating complications including eye, kidney, nerve and cardiovascular disease. It is the main cause of blindness in adults of working age. The prevalence of diabetes is rapidly increasing and is estimated to reach around 10% of the UK adult population by 2030. Diabetes treatment costs to the NHS are currently about £8.8 billion a year and expected to reach 17 billion by 2035. Up to 90% of the diabetes in UK adults is type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is highly prevalent in UK populations of South Asian, Chinese, African Caribbean and Black African descent and people from these groups tend to develop type 2 diabetes at younger ages than do people from the white population. Although there is a genetic predisposition for type 2 diabetes it is essentially a lifestyle disease and the increasing prevalence is linked to the obesity epidemic. There is evidence from large well conducted trials that type 2 diabetes can be prevented by lifestyle intervention. Increased physical activity, a healthy diet, with increased consumption of fibre and reduced fat consumption, and weight loss can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. NICE guidance for risk identification and interventions for type 2 diabetes prevention in high-risk individuals was published in July 2012.

Last modified: Tue, 12 Jan 2016 10:55:05 GMT