Is intensive dietetic intervention effective for overweight patients with diabetes mellitus? A randomized controlled study in a general practice

Overweight diabetes patients have greater morbidity than those at or near their ideal weights. The aim of this study was to determine whether intensive dietetic support resulted in greater weight loss in a group of overweight diabetes patients over a period of 12 months.

A randomized controlled study was set up in our general practice with 75 overweight diabetes patients aged up to 75 years. The control group had dietetic review at 0, 6 and 12 months. The intervention group had, in addition, further in tensive input in the first three months of the study. Results showed that intensive input did not result in greater weight loss over the study period and we concluded that additional dietetic input was not effective in promoting weight loss in this setting.