IMPACT OF LIFESTYLE INTERVENTIONS ON TYPE 2 DIABETES MANAGEMENT: A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is one of the most important global health-related threats in the 21 st century, and by 2045, the prevalence rate is expected to reach over 780 million. It has long been argued that lifestyle interventions involving dietary change, physical exercise, and behavior change are the foundational strategies in diabetes management, although concerns have existed over whether they have been compared in their effectiveness, the optimal mode of delivery, and reducing clinical changes in the long term. The systematic review, which was carried out according to PRISMA 2020 standards, was a synthesis of evidence based on the randomized controlled trial, published between 2019 and 2025, to assess the effects of lifestyle interventions on glycemic control and other metabolism-related outcomes in people with type 2 diabetes. A thorough search of databases at Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, and Cochrane Library found 1,847 records, and 42 articles that were included after full text screening. Thematic synthesis resulted in four pervasive paradigms namely technology mediated interventions, dietary modification programmes, physical activity programmes and theory-based behavioral programmes. Results have shown that lifestyle interventions, on a consistent basis, lead to better glycemic control, and meta-analytic evidences indicate that the glycated hemoglobin levels decrease by 0.07 up to 0.73 percent according to the intensity and duration of intervention. There is, however, a high level of heterogeneity between studies and the sustainability of treatment effects after twelve months has not been well described. Interventions provided by telemedicine have the same effectiveness as face-to-face programs in terms of loss, whereas low-carbohydrate dietary methods have a specific potential in the short-term glycemic control. Interventions based on theories that target readiness to behavioral change have shown clinically significant changes in HbA1c levels, but also have methodological weaknesses that undermine the confidence of effect estimates. This literature review finds that lifestyle interventions constitute part of effective interventions in diabetes management, but they are most effective with continuous behavioral support and individual model that takes into concern the patient preferences, duration of the disease and comorbidities.