Prediabetes: a focus on the role of diabetes education in prevention of type 2 diabetes

Awareness of the seriousness and magnitude of the diabetes epidemic has heightened, resulting in increasing emphasis being placed on prevention. In the last decade, several major institutions have developed guidelines for prevention measures. The World Health Organization (WHO) developed the Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases in 2008, 1 and a global strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health (DPAS) in 2004. 2 These provide a framework within which governments can develop policies that promote healthy eating and increased physical activity. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) produced a consensus paper in 2007 3 which challenged governments in both the developed and the developing world to create national diabetes prevention plans. These plans should aim to identify those at high risk of diabetes, and should recommend strategies using lifestyle and environmental changes to prevent progression of the condition. 3 Sixty per cent of all deaths worldwide are attributed to noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. 1 Unhealthy lifestyles such as poor diet, lack of physical activity and obesity are considered to be the main causative factors in these conditions.