The tool is available via WeChat Mini Program YiYang. YiYang is also a brand of Nestle’s nutritional products launched in China.
The tool assesses diabetes risk based on individuals’ responses on questions related to their health, diet, and lifestyle.
Individuals will be given a risk assessment score categorized as low, medium or high based on their answers.
A detailed analysis and tailored recommendations for diet and physical activity will also be provided.
The screening tool is currently only available in China.
China is said to have the largest population with diabetes globally, followed by India, and Pakistan.
About 11.9% of China adults between 20 and 79 years old were diabetic as of last year, and 49.7% of the diabetic cases were undiagnosed, based on data from Diabetes Atlas.
According to Nestle, the initiative also complements its range of digital tools for supporting personalized nutrition recommendations.
This is also one of Nestle’s latest initiatives in building its range of products and services for supporting blood glucose management in China.
So far, it has launched a low glycemic index (GI) milk powder known as YiYang TangLv, a oolong tea, and another milk powder known as YiYang WanNing. All products contain mulberry leaf extract clinically-proven for managing post-meal blood glucose levels.
Adapting a screening tool for the China population
The screening tool was built by adapting the Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (FINDRSC), a widely used questionnaire for assessing diabetes risk without relying on clinical indicators, to China’s local standards and guidelines.
For instance, the cut-offs for BMI and waist circumference in FINDRSC were replaced with standards specifically tailored for Chinese individuals.
Also, daily vegetable consumption was measured rather than the combined intake of vegetables, fruits, and berries, since vegetables are an essential part of the Chinese diet.
The project in developing a screening tool adapted to the China population was undertaken by Nestle and researchers from Sun Yat-sen University.
Together, they developed the Modified Chinese screening model (ModChinese) using data from Chinese Health and Nutrition Survey (CNHS) as the tool’s training data and that of Guangzhou Nutrition and Health Study (GNHS) as the validation data.
The former had collected data from 7,277 individuals while the later had data from 2,970 individuals.
According to the CNHS, the prevalence of undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes was 8.6% and 40.1%. Based on GNHS, this was 3.1% and 27.9% respectively.
The performance of FINDRISC and ModChinese models in screening undiagnosed diabetes was estimated by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve and the area under the curve (AUC) was also calculated to show the ability of the tool to identify outcomes.
Findings published in PLoS One showed that ModChinese tool displayed better performance than FINDRISC, with significantly higher AUC values for detecting both diabetes and hyperglycemia in the CHNS.
“Similar improvements were observed in the GNHS, where the ModChinese achieved AUC values of 0.663 for diabetes and 0.606 for hyperglycemia, compared to FINDRISC’s 0.622 and 0.593, respectively.
“Compared with the original FINDRISC, the ModChinese model showed improved sensitivity and specificity for screening undiagnosed diabetes and enhanced sensitivity for hyperglycemia screening in both training and validation datasets,” said the researchers.
Screening tools for kids and pet health
Aside from blood glucose management, Nestle has also developed screening tools for assessing nutrient gaps in children’s diets.
Examples include NutriCheck in the Philippines and the Iron Calculator in Pakistan.
“Our scientists have developed algorithms for rapid dietary assessment tools that help identify nutrient gaps in children’s diets.
“These tools were developed considering local nutritional contexts, different age groups and dietary needs, and offer parents valuable feedback on dietary nutritional value and diversity,” said a Nestle spokesperson.
In addition to human health, Nestle has also developed screening tools for tracking pet health.
An example is the Petivity ecosystem of smart devices and analysis kits to help empower owners with predictive knowledge of their pet’s health.
The ecosystem includes a Petivity Smart Litter Box Monitor that uses AI technology to track key changes in cats each time they use their litter box, which Nestle said would make it easier to identify a potential health issue requiring a veterinary diagnosis.
Using big data and developing screening tools has become more prevalent among global nutrition companies in recent years.
Examples include Danone with its iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) screening tool and the company has set sights on building tools for monitoring and supporting healthy aging.
New findings on blood glucose support formula
Nestle also recently reported that drinking milk powder fortified with mulberry leaf extract and inulin could lower early postprandial glucose and insulin responses following a carbohydrate-rich meal in healthy adults of Chinese ethnicity.
The fortified milk powder contains 750mg of mulberry leaf extract per serving, as well as protein, calcium, fiber and multivitamins.
Its effects on post-meal blood glucose levels were compared against that of regular skimmed milk in a two-arm, crossover, open-label, randomized controlled trial.
A total of 31 healthy adults over the age of 45 took part in the trial conducted by scientists from Nestle and Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
Findings showed that consumption of the fortified milk powder did not lead to changes in glucose incremental area under the curve (iAUC0) at the 180th minute – which was the primary outcome of the trial.
However, it did lower early post-meal glucose spike, with glucose incremental area under the curve (iAUC0) reduced significantly by 25% as compared to drinking regular skimmed milk.
Drinking fortified milk also significantly decreased insulin and c-peptide iAUC0 at the 60th min by 22% and 18% respectively.
Findings of the clinical trial were published in The Journal of Nutrition.
Earlier in March, Nestle also published findings on how post-meal blood glucose levels could affect sleep quality.