Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Body Weight Perceptions of Study Participants Benefitting Most from the Feel4Diabetes Program Based on Their Anthropometric and Glycaemic Profile Changes

Abstract

The Feel4Diabetes program was comprised of a community-based screening and a two-year intervention phase aiming to prevent type 2 diabetes (T2D) in families at risk for diabetes across Europe. The current work aimed to identify the socio-demographic characteristics and body weight perceptions of participants who benefitted the most, achieving at least a 5% reduction in body weight, waist circumference and glycaemic indices (fasting plasma glucose, insulin, glycosylated haemoglobin levels), over two-year period. Following a two-stage screening procedure, 2294 high-risk parents were randomly allocated to standard care or more intensive intervention. The participants who benefitted most were living in Southern (OR 2.39–3.67, p < 0.001) and Eastern Europe (OR 1.55–2.47, p < 0.05), received more intensive intervention (OR 1.53–1.90, p = 0.002) and were younger (<40 years old) adults (OR 1.48–1.51, p < 0.05). Furthermore, individuals with tertiary education (OR 2.06, p < 0.001), who were unemployed (OR 1.62–1.68, p < 0.05) and perceived their body weight to be higher than normal (OR 1.58–3.00, p < 0.05) were more likely to benefit from the program. Lastly, males were more likely to show improvements in their glycaemic profiles compared to females (OR 1.40, p = 0.024). These findings point out the regions in Europe and the sociodemographic profile of individuals that benefitted the most in the current study, highlighting the need to prioritise regions in greater need for such interventions and also tailor future interventions to the characteristics and perceptions of the target populations.

Prevalence of Childhood Obesity by Country, Family Socio-Demographics, and Parental Obesity in Europe: The Feel4Diabetes Study

“…Indeed, a higher prevalence of childhood obesity was seen when the education of each parent was less than nine years, with the parents having completed more years of education (>14 years) having children with the lowest prevalence of overweight and obesity. Previously, higher effectiveness of the Feel4Diabetes study has been described among more educated study participants due to the ability of these individuals to better understand and more successfully adopt health messages [10,[35][36][37][38]. Additionally, younger parents are generally more physically capable of participating in physical activities with their children, and thus may represent more positive physical activity role models for them [39,40].…”

“…This study aimed to shed light on this area of research by using pre-intervention socio-demographic and anthropometric data collected from children and their parents participating in the Feel4Diabetes study [8]. Feel4Diabetes was a multicentre study with the primary aim of assessing the effectiveness of school-and community-based intervention in promoting healthy lifestyles, tackling obesity, and preventing T2D among families from vulnerable population groups in Europe [8][9][10]. Another important aim of the Feel4Diabetes study was to identify and report the correlates of energy balance-related behaviours and excess weight status of children and adults participating in the study.…”

Parental food consumption and diet quality and its association with children’s food consumption in families at high risk of type 2 diabetes: the Feel4Diabetes-study

“…This cross-sectional study was conducted as a part of the Feel4Diabetes-study, a European interventional study which included a school-and community-based intervention, aiming to promote healthy lifestyle and tackle obesity and obesity-related metabolic risk factors for the prevention of T2D among families from vulnerable groups in six European countries (25) . The participating countries were classified as low-income countries (Bulgaria and Hungary), countries under austerity measures (Greece and Spain) and high-income countries (Belgium and Finland).…”

“…The participating countries were classified as low-income countries (Bulgaria and Hungary), countries under austerity measures (Greece and Spain) and high-income countries (Belgium and Finland). Vulnerable groups were defined as the population in low-/middle-income countries and families from low-socioeconomic neighbourhoods in high-income countries (6,25) . In each country, primary schools were randomly selected and recruited in selected provinces with low socioeconomic status areas.…”

The Role of Lifestyle, Eating Habits and Social Environment in the Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes and Hypertension

“…Results from the large school and community-based intervention “the Feel4Diabetes-study” targeting high-risk families for T2DM, showed that sociodemographic characteristics, certain perceptions, beliefs and attitudes, affected the outcome of the two-year intervention. Specifically, regarding glycemic indices (fasting plasma glucose, insulin and glycosylated hemoglobin levels), Moschonis et al revealed that those who benefited most were males, younger people, and those with higher education, living in southern and eastern Europe, perceiving their body weight to be higher than normal [ 17 ]. Regarding their lipidemic profile, additional results from the Feel4Diabetes-study (Karatzi et al) showed that women, people living in southeastern Europe, coming from two-parent families, with self-perceived higher financial security, higher educational level, less emotional eating and less sedentary behavior, had a higher probability of benefit from the two-year intervention [ 18 ].…”