Healthy behaviours and 10-year incidence of diabetes a population cohort study

• OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between meeting behavioural goals and diabetes incidence over 10years in a large, representative Swedish population. METHODS: Population-based prospective cohort study of 32,120 individuals aged 35 to 55years participating in a health promotion intervention in Västerbotten County, Sweden (1990 to 2013). Participants underwent an oral glucose tolerance test, clinical measures, and completed diet and activity questionnaires. Poisson regression quantified the association between achieving six behavioural goals at baseline - body mass index (BMI) <25kg/m(2), moderate physical activity, non-smoker, fat intake <30% of energy, fibre intake ≥15g/4184kJ and alcohol intake ≤20g/day - and diabetes incidence over 10years. RESULTS: Median interquartile range (IQR) follow-up time was 9.9 (0.3) years; 2211 individuals (7%) developed diabetes. Only 4.4% of participants met all 6 goals (n=1245) and compared to these individuals, participants meeting 0/1 goals had a 3.74 times higher diabetes incidence (95% confidence interval (CI)=2.50 to 5.59), adjusting for sex, age, calendar period, education, family history of diabetes, history of myocardial infarction and long-term illness. If everyone achieved at least four behavioural goals, 14.1% (95% CI: 11.7 to 16.5%) of incident diabetes cases might be avoided. CONCLUSION: Interventions promoting the achievement of behavioural goals in the general population could significantly reduce diabetes incidence.

Subject headings

Medical and Health Sciences  (hsv)

Health Sciences  (hsv)

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology  (hsv)

Medicin och hälsovetenskap  (hsv)

Hälsovetenskaper  (hsv)

Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi  (hsv)

Medical and Health Sciences  (hsv)

Clinical Medicine  (hsv)

Family Medicine  (hsv)

Medicin och hälsovetenskap  (hsv)

Klinisk medicin  (hsv)

Allmän medicin  (hsv)

Keyword

Type 2 diabetes

 Population health promotion

 Health behaviour change

 Healthy lifestyle

 Population impact

 Population health determinants