Michelle A. Van Name, of the division of pediatric endocrinology at Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues analyzed data from 130 women (90% Hispanic) randomly assigned intensive lifestyle intervention (n = 65; mean age, 44 years; mean BMI, 35.4 kg/m²) or usual care (n = 65; mean age, 43 years; mean BMI, 35.2 kg/m²).

Intervention included 1-hour, weekly group programs led by a bilingual nurse practitioner and held at a public school near the health center, focusing on healthy food choices, behavior changes and weight loss. The group program was enhanced to include weekly cooking demonstrations, group learning lessons at a local grocery store and encouragement to participate in the neighborhood community farm. A parallel program of play-based physical activity for participants’ children was offered simultaneously at the school.

Participants assigned to usual care received one session of diabetes prevention counseling by a study staff member who recommended they lose 7% of their body weight and increase physical activity by 150 minutes per week.

All participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test at baseline and 12 months and contributed blood samples before and after ingesting oral glucose to measure plasma glucose levels.

At 12 months, the intervention group lost a mean of 3.8 kg (4.4%); the usual care group gained 1.4 kg (1.6%; P < .0001). Two-hour glucose excursion decreased 15 mg/dL in the intervention group vs. 1 mg/dL in the usual care group (P = .03). Researchers noted significant decreases favoring the intervention group for BMI, percent body fat, waist circumference and fasting insulin.

“The [intervention] was enthusiastically received by most of the subjects and achieved clinically and statistically significant changes in body weight and BMI over 12 months in these patients with prediabetes,” the researchers wrote.

“The 5.2-kg (6%) difference in body weight between the two groups at 12 months was greater than we anticipated and, if sustained, would be expected to delay or reduce the risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”