Originally published July 25 2005
Adult lifestyle, not childhood, leads to diabetes
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A study finds your weight, lifestyle and diet choices in adult life have more influence over whether or not you will develop diabetes than childhood weight and nutrition, as was previously believed.
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.
Diabetes is a global health problem that is presenting a major medical challenge worldwide.
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.
The study was funded by the Wellcome Trust, the Minnie Henderson Trust, the Sir John Knott Trust and the Special Trustees of the Newcastle Hospitals.
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.
"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."
This study further emphasises the importance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and taking part in regular physical activity.
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