Effectiveness of nutrition and physical activity interventions in women with impaired fasting glucose: A randomized controlled trial in the community/Bozulmuş Açlık Glukozu Görülen Kadınlarda Beslenme ve Fiziksel Aktiviteye Yönelik Girişimlerinin Etkinliğ

Background: This study aimed to determine whether regular telephone calls on reminding not to consume high glycemic index food and performing regular physical activity improve fasting glucose levels in Turkish women with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) aged 30-65 years.Methods: All intervention (n=117) and control (n=99) groups took a seminar on healthy eating and physical activity. Women in the intervention group were then called weekly and motivated by using charts that were designed with colours adopted from the traffic lights. After 12 weeks of intervention both groups were invited for blood tests. In total, 32 intervention and 17 controls responded to the last visit.Results: In the intervention group, the number of green colour code for nutrition decreased (from 16.2 ±4.1 to 15.1±3.7, p=0.03) but the number of green colour code for activity was not changed significantly (from 0.5 ±0.7 to 0.4±0.7, p=0.25) in the third month. At the third month fasting blood glucose was higher in the intervention group (117.0±25.8) than control group (109.5±9.2) (p=0.69). Conclusion: In our study, simple regular telephone calls were not sufficient to motivate the study participants to stay in the study and to take dietary and physical activity advices. Further studies should be designed to evaluate different and new lifestyle change interventions in high risk people in Turkey.