An unhealthy diet, obesity and physical inactivity play a role in the onset of Type 2 diabetes,(1) but it has been shown that increased physical activity substantially reduces the risk,(2) and participation in regular physical activity is one of the major recommendations of the evidence based guidelines for the primary prevention of diseases.(1) 

According to the 2004-05 National Health Survey, more than half a million Australians (3.5% of the population) have diabetes mellitus which had been medically diagnosed and most of these people have the Type 2 condition.(2) Gestational diabetes is also on the increase, "rising steadily between 2000-01 and 2005-06."(3,4 pp34-36)

Approximately two thirds of those with diabetes have been prescribed medication but it is of concern that a recent review of the literature found that many people do not take their medication as prescribed.(3-6) Many patients also self-monitor the disease by measuring their blood glucose levels with a glucose meter but Song and Lipman(6) have concerns about how well this is managed. French et al.(7 p1465) examined Type 2 diabetes patients' beliefs with regard to self-monitoring concluding that "despite changes in some beliefs about diabetes differing between groups there were no corresponding changes in self-reported health behaviours."

Reference list

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Diabetes: Australian facts [Internet]. Canberra (ACT): Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2008 [cited 2019 Mar 15]. 150 p. Report No.: CVD 40. Available from: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/diabetes/diabetes-australian-facts-2008/contents/summary.

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National health survey: first results, 2017-18 [Internet]. Canberra (ACT): Commonwealth of Australia; 2018 [cited 2019 Mar 15]. 97 p. Report No.: 4364.0.55.001. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/PrimaryMainFeatures/4364.0.55.001

3. Gill J. Physical activity and prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus [Internet]. Sports Med. 2008 [cited 2019 Mar 15];38(10):807-824. Available from: https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/article/10.2165/00007256-200838100-00002 doi: 10.2165/00007256-200838100-00002

4. Pieris-Caldwell I, Templeton M. Gestational diabetes mellitus in Australia, 2005-06. Canberra (ACT): Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2008. 49 p. Report No.: CVD 44.

5. Nieuwlaat R, Wilczynski N, Navarro T, Hobson N, Jeffery R, Keepanasseril A, Agoritsas T, Mistry N, Iorio A, Jack S. Interventions for enhancing medication adherence [Internet]. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 [cited 2019 Mar 17];45(11). Available from: https://doi.org//10.1002/14651858.CD000011.pub4 doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000011.pub4

6. Song M, Lipman T. Concept analysis: self-monitoring in type 2 diabetes mellitus . Int J Nurs Stud [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2019 Mar 15];45(11):1700-1710. Available from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0020748908000941?via%3Dihub doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.04.005

7. French D, Wade A, Yudkin P, Neil H, Kinmonth A, Farmer AJ. Self‐monitoring of blood glucose changed non‐insulin‐treated type 2 diabetes patients’ beliefs about diabetes and self‐monitoring in a randomized trial. Diabetic Med [Internet]. 2008 [cited 2019 Jan 18];25(10):1218-1228. Available from: https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/ doi/full/10.1111/j.1464-5491.2008.02569.x