Group-based and online lifestyle counselling can support middle-aged and older men in making health-promoting dietary changes. These dietary changes, in turn, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, especially among men with a high genetic risk, a study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland shows.
The T2D-GENE study investigated the effects of group-based and online lifestyle counselling on dietary changes among men living in the eastern part of Finland, and how these changes influenced their risk of type 2 diabetes. The study also examined whether a high genetic predisposition to type 2 diabetes has an impact on the benefits gained from dietary changes.
Men in the intervention group received lifestyle counselling over a three-year period. The study found that lifestyle counselling delivered in group sessions and through a web portal helped participants adopt healthier dietary habits.
Health-promoting dietary choices were associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, particularly among individuals carrying a high number of diabetes-associated risk genes. Moreover, participants carrying the genetic variant TCF7L2 , which is known to increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, benefitted most from a fibre intake that meets the nutrition recommendations.
Participants in the intervention group successfully increased their intake of fibre, whole grain products, berries, vegetables, fish and plant-based oils. At the same time, reported consumption of sausages, high-fat cheeses, low-fibre grain products, sweets and butter decreased. By the end of the study, those receiving lifestyle counselling were, in general, consuming more health-promoting foods than those in the control group.
Numerous previous studies have shown that type 2 diabetes can be prevented, or at least delayed, through health-promoting lifestyle habits.
“We need to find resource-efficient ways within health care to support these lifestyle changes. Group-based and online counselling is more resource-efficient than individual counselling,” Doctoral Researcher Ulla Tolonen of the University of Eastern Finland notes and adds:
“Our new findings show that group-based and online counselling is sufficient to support lifestyle changes among individuals with a high genetic risk of type 2 diabetes.”
Participants’ consumption of individual foods was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, while fibre intake was evaluated both through food records and by measuring plasma alkylresorcinol, which is a biomarker of whole grain intake. The incidence of type 2 diabetes and blood glucose levels were measured by an oral glucose tolerance test. Genetic risk was assessed either by a risk score calculated on the basis of 76 risk genes, or by the genotype TCF7L2 , a known risk gene for type 2 diabetes. All participants had impaired fasting blood glucose at baseline.
The findings were published in European Journal of Nutrition, and in Clinical Nutrition.
European Journal of Nutrition
Changes in food choices and dietary patterns during the lifestyle intervention and their association with type 2 diabetes risk in participants with high or low genetic risk for type 2 diabetes.
11-Sep-2025