Current issues
The DALI research programme in early 2015: from satisfaction to near completion
In 2012, a total of 150 pregnant women participated in the DALI pilot lifestyle study. Their main reason for participating was to minimize their chance of developing gestational diabetes mellitus, since all were high risk as a result of being overweight. Most of the women also indicated their wish to help research in this field by extending current knowledge on gestational diabetes mellitus.
Various lifestyle coaches across Europe provided physical activity and/or nutritional behaviour counselling. The counselling was based on the principles of motivational interviewing, which is an approach that works through facilitating and engaging intrinsic motivation in order to change behaviour. In this intervention, simple ‘key’ messages were tailored to the individual woman.
At the end of the project, women were given the opportunity to rate their satisfaction with different aspects of this lifestyle study. The DALI study participants were highly satisfied with the intervention and on a scale from 0 to 10 rated this study an 8.6 (SD±1.4) overall. The face-to-face conversations with the lifestyle coach were given an 8.9 (SD±1.4). Moreover, 97% of the women said they adopted a lifestyle change and 83% were certain they would maintain this adopted lifestyle change even after delivery.
All participants thus far have had a positive experience with the lifestyle counselling throughout pregnancy as offered through the DALI project. No need existed to make major improvements to the intervention before continuing to the main trial. The results to the pilot study have been submitted for publication.
Since the learning from the pilot study, the main lifestyle trial, comparing coach supported physical activity and/or healthy eating with women without the DALI intervention is nearing completion. Although 440 were needed for the study, 453 were finally recruited, exceeding the target. Data are currently being ‘cleaned’, in preparation for analyses. A third limb, comparing the use of Vitamin D and lifestyle is still recruiting, with 127 so far enrolled.
Papers have been publishd describing the epidemiology of GDM across Europe, and an analysis of dietary records across the 9 countries has also been submitted for publication.
All major analyses will be sufficiently advanced by December 2015 to hold a workshop with European health policy experts, to see how the knowledge gained can best be translated into actions to help control the growth of GDM.
Upcoming meetings
The DALI team is pleased to announce its final meeting this year:
One day on gestational pregnancy, screening and prevention.
Date: December 10th, 2015
Venue: University Foundation, Egmontstraat/Rue d´Egmont 11, Brussels
Programme to follow
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