Project
Lifestyle intervention for individuals with low socioeconomic status of different ethnic origins
Individuals with low socioeconomic status (SES) and some ethnic minorities show increased risk for cardiometabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus. Lifestyle intervention studies have shown that the development of cardiometabolic diseases can partly be prevented or postponed by a combination of a healthy diet and increased physical activity. However, people with low SES and some ethnic minorities are often underrepresented in lifestyle interventions.
Recently a Dutch intervention study, named SLIM (Study of Lifestyle intervention and Impaired glucose tolerance Maastricht), showed that individuals with impaired glucose tolerance can decrease their diabetes risk by participating in a diet and physical activity intervention. Although the effects of the SLIM lifestyle intervention were promising, the drop-out among participants with low SES was higher than among participants with higher SES.
Our project builds further on this evidence-based lifestyle intervention. In our project, we adapt the SLIM lifestyle intervention towards individuals with low socioeconomic status of different ethnic origins and test the adapted lifestyle intervention among the target group for adherence and effectiveness in reducing waist circumference and improving other components of the metabolic syndrome, with the ultimate goal to prevent cardiometabolic diseases. In this way we want to assist in solving an important public health issue.
More research: Nutrition, obesity and the metabolic syndrome