Intensive Lifestyle Counselling Intervention: Preventing Maternal Risk for Gestational Diabetes Mellitus

This study is aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of an intensive lifestyle counselling (ILC) designed to prevent gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among high risk mothers. A quasi-experimental trial was conducted in four selected health clinics (two clinics for intervention and two clinics for control) in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. Of the 320 subjects recruited, 148 respondents in the intervention group and 150 respondents in the control group had completed the study (response rate 93.1%). The intervention group was given a routine antenatal care (RC) and a package of structured ILC sessions on diet, physical activity (PA) and information on appropriate gestational weight gain (GWG) in five routine antenatal care visits until 39 weeks’ gestation. The controls received only the RC. Both groups are comparable for sociodemographic characteristics (p < 0.05). GDM incidence is higher in control group (16.7%) compared to intervention group (6.1%), p = 0.046. After controlling the covariates, the intervention group consistently showed protective for developing GDM, (aOR: 0.25, CI: 0.18 - 0.23, p = 0.003). The intervention group had significantly increased in PA (moderate intensity) mean score (660.3 ± 289.4 Met/min) compared to control group (571.36 ± 230.38 Met/min), F(1, 296) = 10.418, p < 0.001 and comply to dietary recommendation (50.7% in intervention versus 16.7% in control), p < 0.001. Total GWG significantly lesser in intervention (11.4 ± 2.5 Kg) than the control group (12.7 ± 2.9 Kg), p < 001. An ILC can reduce GDM incidence, by increasing PA, increase compliance to the dietary intake recommendation and lesser total GWG among high risk mothers.

Efficacy of a Diabetes Specific Nutritional Supplement (DSNS) on Glycemic Response in Prediabetic Adults: A Two-Armed, Open-Labelled Randomized Controlled Study

It is well known that Diabetes Specific Nutritional Supplements (DSNSs) are linked to improved glycemic control in individuals with diabetes. However, data on efficacy of DSNSs in prediabetics is limited. This was a two-armed, open-labelled, randomized controlled six-week study on 199 prediabetics [30 - 65 years;Glycosylated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) 5.7% - 6.4% and/or Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) 100-125 mg/dl]. Two parallel phases were conducted: Acute Blood Glucose Response (ABGR) and Intervention phase. Prediabetic participants were randomized into test (n = 100) and control (n = 99). The primary objective was to assess the ABGR of DSNS versus an isocaloric snack, measured by incremental Area under the Curve (iAUC). Test and control received 60 g of DSNS and 56 g of isocaloric snack (cornflakes) respectively, both in 250 ml double-toned milk on visit days 1, 15, 29 and 43. Postprandial Blood Glucose (PPG) was estimated at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180 minutes. During the 4 weeks intervention phase, the test group received DSNS with lifestyle counselling (DSNS + LC) and was compared with the control receiving lifestyle counselling alone (LC alone). Impact was studied on FBG, HbA1C, anthropometry, body composition, blood pressure, nutrient intake, and physical activity. The impact of DSNS was also studied using CGM between two 14-day phases: CGM1 baseline (days 1 - 14) and CGM2 endline (days 28 - 42). DSNS showed significantly lower PPG versus isocaloric snack at 30 (p 12, and chromium were reported by DSNS + LC versus LC alone. No other significant changes were reported between groups. It may be concluded that DSNS may be considered as a snack for prediabetic or hyperglycemic individuals requiring nutritional support for improved glycemic control.

Implementation Research on the Effects and Results of a National Health Promotion Project

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of the Finnish government’s 2017-2018 key project titled “Effective lifestyle counselling for social and health care cross-functionally” (VESOTE) in primary health care organizations in Southwest Finland. The study also aimed to illustrate the project’s impacts on nursing practices in primary health care organizations in terms of lifestyle counselling. Data were collected from all of the primary health care organizations in Southwest Finland by using a questionnaire. The data were analyzed qualitatively and by using descriptive statistics. The participants considered the VESOTE project important in terms of its contents. However, only individual measures of the project were adopted into practice. Organizations require tools to monitor the implementation of a new operating model. This should be taken into account when launching national projects.