Type 2 Diabetes

The link between excess weight and type 2 diabetes is indisputable. Even if a person’s weight was normal from about age eighteen to twenty-two, adding weight as an adult translates into big risks for
developing this life-threatening disease. In a study involving over 37,000 women, researchers found that BMI predicted which women were likely to develop diabetes. Compared with women at a healthy weight, the risk was three times greater for overweight women and nine times greater for obese women. A study that included middleaged men found that even a minimal weight gain of about 61⁄2 pounds per decade produced more than a sevenfold increase in the risk of developing diabetes.
The take-home message for men and women, though, is positive. Although small weight gains increase the risk for type 2 diabetes, it takes only a small weight loss to reduce the risk. In a study involving about 7,000 British men, a mere 4 percent loss in body weight significantly reduced the risk for developing diabetes. So for a man who weighs 250 pounds, getting down to 240 pounds can result in a substantial health gain. A study involving over 100,00 women between the ages of thirty and fifty-five found that compared with women whose
weight remained stable during adulthood,women who gained 11 to 17 pounds after age eighteen had twice the risk of developing diabetes; women who gained 18 to 24 pounds tripled their risk. In contrast, women who lost 11 or more pounds reduced their risk of developing diabetes by at least 50 percent.