title: Following in the Footsteps of the North Karelia Project: Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.
abstract: The prevalence as well as actual number of people with type 2 diabetes has been increasing in Finland during the past decades, in parallel with an increase in overweight and obesity. Besides obesity, population aging is among the main drivers of increasing numbers of diabetic patients. Type 2 diabetes brings along complications, most importantly cardiovascular diseases, and increasing type 2 diabetes prevalence has also been suggested to lead to a new upward turn in cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is important to implement activities to prevent type 2 diabetes. We present the trial evidence for the prevention of type 2 diabetes with emphasis on the Finnish Diabetes Prevention Study findings. Furthermore, we discuss the practical implementation of screening of individuals for high type 2 diabetes risk and prevention of type 2 diabetes in Finland at the population level and describe how they have contributed to European level initiatives.
authors.affiliation: Chronic Disease Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland. Electronic address: jaana.lindstrom@thl.fi.
authors.forename: Jaana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lindström
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Nutrition, Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; Research Unit, Kuopio University Hospital, Kuopio, Finland.
authors.forename: Matti
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uusitupa
authors.affiliation: Center for Vascular Prevention, Danube-University Krems, Krems, Austria.
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuomilehto
authors.affiliation: Chronic Disease Prevention Unit, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peltonen
mesh_terms: D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D011322:Primary Prevention / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012307:Risk Factors