Article Summary Efficacy of lifestyle education to prevent type 2 diabetes. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Yamaoka K, Tango T. Diabetes Care. 2005;28:2780-2786. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of a lifestyle education program compared with a conventional education program for the prevention of type 2 diabetes in individuals at high risk. Methods: An electronic search identified 123 randomized controlled clinical trials. Of these, 8 met all the rigorous inclusion criteria for the analysis of 2-hour plasma glucose and 5 for the analysis of relative risk of the incidence of diabetes. The difference in the mean reduction of the plasma glucose 2 hours after a 75-g oral glucose load between baseline and 1-year follow-up was used as an outcome measure. Relative risk (RR) for incidence of type 2 diabetes in the lifestyle education intervention group compared with the control group was also assessed. Results: Compared with controls, a 1-year lifestyle education intervention reduced 2-hour plasma glucose by 0.84 mmol/L. The risk of incidence of type 2 diabetes in the lifestyle intervention group was reduced by ~50% (RR = 0.55 [95% CI 0.44 – 0.69]) compared with the control group. Conclusions: These results provide impartial evidence that lifestyle education in high-risk individuals is effective and may be a useful tool for preventing type 2 diabetes.