Clinically Practical and Affordable Lifestyle Modification to Prevent Diabetes Mellitus in Real Practice

As the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus continues to rise, the development of effective and sustainable prevention strategies has become a critical public health priority. Evidence from large-scale randomized controlled trials has established that lifestyle modification (LSM) programs can substantially reduce the risk of diabetes in high-risk individuals. However, routine implementation is limited by high intensity, costs, and resource requirements. We summarize major prevention trials and their effectiveness, feasibility, and limitations. Building on these insights, we introduce the Korean Diabetes Prevention Study (KDPS) as a contextually tailored model for the Korean healthcare system. The KDPS-LSM program was designed to integrate cultural and clinical relevance with practical applicability, consisting of a 6-month intensive phase of structured nutrition and lifestyle education followed by a maintenance phase to support long-term adherence. To promote sustainable change, the program incorporates the ‘10 habit’ lifestyle messages, grounded in the transtheoretical model of behavior change, which are designed for easy implementation in daily life. This review underscores the importance of developing culturally appropriate LSM programs that balance effectiveness with feasibility, and suggests that the KDPS-LSM model could serve as a useful foundation for establishing practical diabetes prevention strategies within national healthcare systems.