In the USA, the prevalence of obesity is 33.8% [1] and type 2 diabetes is 27% [2]. The landmark Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) showed that a lifestyle intervention facilitating a 7% weight loss had a significantly greater impact on diabetes risk than placebo or metformin with a risk reduction of 58% over 3 years [3]. Similar findings were reported in diabetes prevention studies in Finland and China [4,5]. The impact of lifestyle interventions appears to be long term [3,4]. In the 10-year follow-up of the DPP, the incidence of diabetes in the placebo and metformin groups (who had been offered the lifestyle intervention following the initial intervention period) fell to equal that of the lifestyle group; however, the cumulative incidence of diabetes remained lowest in the lifestyle group [6]. The China Da Qing Study revealed reduced incidence of diabetes from a lifestyle intervention at 20-year follow-up [5]. Widespread availability of lifestyle interventions could have a tremendous impact on public health.In 2003, the United States Preventive Services Task Force assigned intensive lifestyle weight loss interventions, a B grade based on a review of the literature, with fair to good evidence for modest, sustained weight loss [7]. In spite of the evidence, intensive lifestyle interventions have not become a part of standard health care practice and are not a third party reimbursable service, with only a few exceptions. A significant barrier to large-scale adoption is the feasibility of translating intensive lifestyle intervention into real world settings. The DPP lifestyle intervention cost US $2,780 per person over 3 years and required 135 visit hours [8]. Although the cost was not significantly higher than the metformin group, visit time was 3.5 times higher. The amount of visit time is high relative to most services available in the current health care environment. To impact public health, research is needed to inform the process of translation and implementation of intensive lifestyle interventions into affordable, feasible, and sustainable programs not just in healthcare settings but also in community settings such as community centers, worksites, schools, and churches. To catalyze translational research efforts, in 2006, the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases sponsored a funding initiative for translational research in diabetes prevention and management. Since then, translational work across myriad settings has been forthcoming. In 2009, a systematic review was performed of the seven studies testing translation into community settings of lifestyle interventions specifically based on the DPP [9]. All reported significant weight loss; however, weight loss achieved (2.6-6%) was typically less than that in the DPP (6.9%). Only three examined 1-year outcomes, but all three had significant weight loss at 1 year. I recently surveyed the authors of these seven programs and found that only two were confirmed to be ongoing, one in a hospital setting [10] and the other in the Young Men's...