A Brescia University College researcher is hoping to encourage local residents identified with prediabetes to make smart lifestyle choices and prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
Professor Isabelle Giroux is the principal investigator of a new research and education project, along with Paula Dworatzek and Danielle Battram of Brescia, which received a two-year funding boost from The Lawson Foundation.
Prediabetes is defined as the presence of impaired fasting glucose and/or impaired glucose tolerance, which Giroux calls a serious and complex health condition affecting many Canadians.
“Prediabetes is a diagnosis that puts people at high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other health problems. The prevalence of this chronic disease has been increasing such that the number of Canadians with Type 2 diabetes is projected to reach 2.4 million in 2010.”
Studies show that lifestyle interventions that target physical activity and diet reduce the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes by about 58 per cent.
Several undergraduate and graduate students in Foods and Nutrition at Brescia will be involved in the project.
The outcomes will be shared on a website, through education in the community and in the classroom, in presentations at professional conferences, and through manuscripts.
This new project builds on the work of the “Prediabetes initiative and partnership” Giroux created in 2007 in partnership with the Diabetes Education Centre of St. Joseph’s Health Care London.
The Canadian Diabetes Association – Southwest Ontario Regional Leadership Centre and the Canadian Centre for Activity and Aging at The University of Western Ontario are also part of the partnership.
The objectives include assessing and comparing the baseline characteristics of London residents aged 30-59 years, and those 60 years old and older diagnosed with prediabetes. In addition, the project will implement and evaluate the overall effectiveness of the “Prediabetes Lifestyle and Behavior Change Intervention Program.”
For more information about the Prediabetes Initiative and Partnership, visit https://www.brescia.uwo.ca/prediabetes_initiative/.