Scientists Highlight Five Key Lifestyle Factors For Diabetes Prevention

Tue, 06 Sep 2011

Individuals with healthy lifestyle factors are 80 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, according to new research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine .

Researchers from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, and National Cancer Institute, in the US found that multiple good lifestyle factors such as eating a healthy diet, doing exercise, not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption and maintaining a healthy weight significantly reduces the risk of diabetes type 2, the most common form of diabetes mellitus.

The investigators analysed data on 114,996 adult males and 92,483 females, aged 50 -71, to find out how combinations of risk factors impact on diabetes risk in the long-term. None of the participants had evidence of diabetes, cancer or heart disease at the beginning of the study.

Between 1995 and 1996 they monitored their dietary habits, weight, smoking status, alcohol consumption, and how level of physical activity.

The participants were surveyed again in 2007 and the results showed that during the 11-year period, 9.6 per cent (11,031) of the men and 7.5 per cent (6,969) of the women had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Using original survey data, the researchers measured the association between lifestyle factors and diabetes risk. They found that the participants with the best multiple lifestyle habits had an 80 per cent lower chance of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those with the worst.

They concluded: "Lifestyle factors, when considered in combination, are associated with a substantial reduction in risk for diabetes ."

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