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Rationale of the Week | ADA 2025: Intensive Prevention for High-Risk Individuals with BMI >35 kg/m2

For last week’s practice question, we quizzed participants on what defines overbasalization according to 2025 ADA Standards? 60% of respondents chose the best answer. We want to clarify and share this important information, so you can pass it on to people living with diabetes and your colleagues, plus prepare for exam success!

Before we start though, if you don’t want any spoilers and haven’t tried the question yet, you can answer it below: Answer Question 

Lightbulb and text: Rationale of the Week

Question:According to ADA 2025 Standards, more intensive preventive approaches should be considered in individuals who are at particularly high risk of progression to diabetes, including individuals with BMI ≥35 kg/m2 who:

Answer Choices:

  1. Sit more than eight hours a day and have a sedentary lifestyle.
  2. Have a history of thyroid or celiac disease.
  3. Consume a diet with high amounts of simple carbohydrates.
  4. Have fasting plasma glucose of 110–125 or A1C ≥6.0%.

Getting to the Best Answer

If you are thinking about taking the certification exam, this practice test question will set you up for success. Test writers anticipate possible answers based on the details in the question. They will wave those “juicy answers” right under your nose. Your job is to weed through the particulars, pluck out the most important elements and choose the BEST answer.

Answer 1 is incorrect. 25% chose this answer, “Sit more than eight hours a day and have a sedentary lifestyle”. Although the ADA Standards recommend getting up and moving every half-hour, they don’t specify that eight hours of sitting a day qualifies a person as higher risk to progressing to diabetes. 

Answer 2 is incorrect. 7% of you chose this answer “Have a history of thyroid or celiac disease”.  These autoimmune conditions are more closely associated with immune mediated type 1 diabetes and do not place a person as higher risk for progression to type 2 diabetes.

Answer 3 is incorrect. About 9% of respondents chose this, “Consume a diet with high amounts of simple carbohydrates.” While eating foods rich in fiber and a variety of nutrients is important to decrease risk of diabetes, the ADA does not state that eating simple carbohydrates puts individuals in a higher risk category of progressing to diabetes.

Finally, Answer 4 is correct 60% chose this answer, “Have fasting plasma glucose of 110–125 or A1C ≥6.0%.”  Great job. This is the BEST answer. According to ADA 2025 Standards, “More intensive preventive approaches should be considered in individuals who are at particularly high risk of progression to diabetes, including individuals with BMI ≥35 kg/m2, those at higher glucose levels (e.g., fasting plasma glucose 110–125 mg/dL [6.1–6.9 mmol/L], 2-h post challenge glucose 173–199 mg/dL [9.6–11.0 mmol/L], and A1C ≥6.0% [≥42 mmol/mol]), and individuals with a history of gestational diabetes mellitus.”

We hope you appreciate this week’s rationale! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer our Question of the Week and participate in this fun learning activity!

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