Diet and Exercise Delays Type 2 Diabetes

Because the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has tripled in the last 30 years, researchers continue to study the link between obesity and diabetes so that greater numbers of individuals can better control their weight to possibly delay or even avoid diabetes altogether.

Last summer, a major clinical trial from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) found that people at risk for type 2 diabetes could significantly lower their chances of getting the disease with diet and exercise and a healthy lifestyle. Overweight patients with impaired glucose tolerance who exercised 30 minutes per day and consumed a low-fat diet lost an average of about 15 pounds and significantly lowered their chances of developing diabetes.

Every year a person can live free of diabetes means an added year of life free of the pain, disability, and medical costs incurred by this disease. The DPP findings represent a major step toward the goal of containing and ultimately reversing the epidemic of type 2 diabetes in this country.