Obesity is one of the most important risk factors for diabetes mellitus, mainly type 2 diabetes. The prevalence of diabetes is significantly higher in obese people, up to four times higher than in the general population. On the other hand, 80% of people with type 2 diabetes are obese. Moreover, the longer the duration of obesity, the greater the chance of developing diabetes. For people with severe mental disorders, the STRIDE study evaluated whether a lifestyle could reduce weight and lower the risk of glucose diabetes. To verify that the STRIDE intervention is effective over conventional treatment in reducing weight and improving glucose metabolism, Carla A. Green, Kaiser Permanente, Health Research Center, conducted a study showing that a healthy lifestyle can help individuals taking antipsychotic medications to lose weight and improve fasting blood glucose levels. The findings were recently published in The American Journal of Psychiatry. This was a multicenter, parallel randomized controlled trial that included 200 adults taking antipsychotics for ≥30 days with a body mass index ≥27. Of these, 56 were men and 144 were women, with a mean age of 47.2 years. They were randomly assigned to receive usual care (N=96) or a 6-month intervention plus 6 months of maintenance treatment (N=104). Excluding severe cognitive impairment, pregnancy/breastfeeding, recent psychiatric hospitalization, bariatric surgery, cancer, heart attack, or stroke, the intervention emphasized the importance of moderate intake and reduction of calories, the use of Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and increased physical activity. Patient data were collected at baseline, 6 months and 12 months. Findings showed that 90.5% of patients (N=181) completed the 6-month assessment and 85% (N=170) completed the 12-month assessment. Intention-to-treat analyses showed that participants in the intervention group lost 4.4 kg and 2.6 kg of body weight from baseline to 6 months and at 12 months, respectively, and at 12 months, fasting blood glucose levels increased from 106.0 mg/dL to 109.5 mg/dL in the control group, whereas in the intervention group, fasting blood glucose levels decreased from 106.3 mg/dL to 100.4 mg/dL. Moreover, participants in the intervention group had fewer medical hospitalizations compared with the control group (6.7% vs 18.8%). In addition, there were no study-related adverse events. From this study, a healthy lifestyle can help individuals taking antipsychotic medications lose weight and improve fasting blood glucose levels. Also, this study shows how important it is to have a healthy lifestyle to stay away from obesity and reduce the risk of diabetes!