Research

Energy balance

Sustained weight loss of 5% or more over 1-3 years significantly reduces the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in adults with Impaired Glucose Tolerance.

Aim to lose just 5% of your body weight within the first year if you have impaired glucose tolerance. The critical factor is not how much you lose, but keeping it off. Maintaining this 5% loss for two to three years cuts your risk of developing Type 2 Diabetes by nearly 90%. Focus on sustainable habits: 30 minutes of moderate activity daily and a diet higher in fiber and lower in fat.

StrongSupportsVERY_HIGH confidence
participants who achieved $5% weight loss at year one had 64% lower T2D incidence... those who maintained this at year two had 79% lower T2D risk... and those who maintained this at year three had 89% lower T2D risk
Linda Penn et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

Why this rating

Pooled analysis of three randomized controlled trials (RCTs) with a large sample size (n=749) and long follow-up (mean 3.1 years).

Source

Importance of Weight Loss Maintenance and Risk Prediction in the Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes: Analysis of European Diabetes Prevention Study RCT

Linda Penn et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0057143

rct · n=749Cited 143×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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