Lifestyle Biggest Risk Factor for Diabetes

Adult lifestyle has more influence on your chances of developing diabetes than childhood experience, according to new research whose findings contradict previously-held beliefs.

A team from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, studied 412 men and women and found that fatter adults were more likely to have increased insulin resistance, a risk marker for Type 2 diabetes.

Childhood factors, such as birth weight and nutrition, were found to have limited impact, whereas they were previously thought to be significant.

The Newcastle University study measured participants’ percentage body fat and waist-hip ratio, along with other lifestyle elements. Men and women with a higher body fat and higher waist-hip ratio were more likely to demonstrate increased insulin resistance.

The data was collected as part of the Thousand Families Study, a Newcastle University project which has examined the health of children born in Newcastle in May and June 1947 throughout their lives.

Study leader Dr Mark Pearce, who is also director of the Thousand Families Study, said promotion of healthier lifestyles throughout life would be the public health interventions most likely to reduce insulin resistance in later life.

He said: "Previous studies have suggested that risk of poor health in later life is programmed by impaired development in the womb, and that poor growth in fetal and infant life is associated with impaired insulin secretion and sensitivity. However, not all of these studies have not had access to complete data on later life.

"Our study, which has examined people from birth to adulthood, suggests that the life you lead as an adult has the biggest influence on your health, in terms of diabetes risk, in later life.

Dr Pearce, of Newcastle University’s School of Clinical Medical Sciences, added: "It’s never too late to start living a healthy lifestyle,“ and even though our study shows that childhood experience had limited impact on insulin resistance in adulthood, parents still have a role to play in introducing their children to eating a healthy diet and physical exercise, so they can develop good habits that will hopefully last throughout adulthood and old age."

"To reduce the risks of developing Type 2 diabetes in earlier years, it’s essential to start leading a healthy lifestyle as early as possible."

Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews, July 2005

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