About the National DPP

The National Diabetes Prevention Program—or National DPP—was created in 2010 to address the increasing burden of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in the United States. This national effort created partnerships between public and private organizations to offer evidence-based, cost-effective interventions that help prevent type 2 diabetes in communities across the United States.

One key feature of the National DPP is the CDC-recognized lifestyle change program, a research-based program focusing on healthy eating and physical activity which showed that people with prediabetes who take part in a structured lifestyle change program can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% (71% for people over 60 years old).

Research Behind the National DPP

Congress authorized the National DPP in 2010 because of previous research that demonstrated the potential of the CDC-recognized lifestyle change program to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.

The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)External was a major multicenter clinical research study. The intervention involved a lifestyle change program focusing on calorie reduction and increasing physical activity to at least 150 minutes per week. Results from the study showed that this structured lifestyle change program, in which participants achieved weight loss of 5 to 7 percent of their body weight (10 to 14 pounds for a person weighing 200 pounds), reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58 percent in adults at high risk for the disease.

A 10-year follow-up study, The Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes StudyExternal, showed that participants were still one-third less likely to develop type 2 diabetes a decade later than individuals who took a placebo. Those who did develop type 2 diabetes delayed the onset of the disease by about 4 years.

Goals of the National DPP

The National DPP works to make it easier for people with prediabetes to participate in affordable, high-quality lifestyle change programs to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes and improve their overall health.