Effects of an Early Postpartum Lifestyle Intervention on Long-Term Risk of Diabetes in Women with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

Few randomized controlled trials (RCT) that have thus far been published have not unequivocally found that early postpartum lifestyle intervention can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) . The aim of the present large-scale, long-term RCT was to assess whether an early postpartum lifestyle intervention can reduce or delay type 2 diabetes risk in women with prior GDM in the Tianjin Gestational Diabetes Mellitus Prevention Program in China. A total of 1180 women who were diagnosed with GDM from 20to 20were randomly assigned to either a 4-year lifestyle intervention (n = 586) or a control group (n = 594) . Major elements of the intervention included six face-to-face meetings with study dietitians in the first year, and two additional sessions and two telephone calls in each subsequent year. The mean follow-up was 4.5 years. During the trial, overweight women with GDM in the intervention group compared with the control group were more likely to lose weight. The incidence of diabetes was 0.87 and 1.46 per 100 person-years in the lifestyle intervention and control groups, respectively; the lifestyle intervention reduced the incidence by 45 percent (P = 0.023) . An early postpartum healthy lifestyle management markedly reduced the incidence of diabetes among women with prior GDM. Disclosure G.Hu: None. X.Yang: None. J.Tuomilehto: Stock/Shareholder; Orion Pharma. H.Liu: None. J.Leng: None. L.Wang: None. S.Zhang: None. W.Li: None. W.Li: None. L.Qi: None. Z.Yu: None. Funding This study is supported by the grant from European Foundation for the Study of Diabetes (EFSD) /Chinese Diabetes Society (CDS) /Lilly program for Collaborative Research between China and Europe. Dr. Hu is partly supported by the grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK100790) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54GM104940) of the National Institutes of Health.