Control Weight To Fight Diabetes

Type 2 Diabetes used to affect only adults, but young people are not immune.

One in six overweight adolescents has pre-diabetes, which can lead to the full-blown disease if unchecked.

Researchers are looking for the culprit that causes diabetes - everything from high-fructose corn syrup to lack of fiber has been blamed. Several recent studies in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked at sweetened beverages, fruit and vegetable intake and low-fat diets for relationships to diabetes.

They first looked at the consumption of sugary soft drinks and fruit drinks among black women. Because black women have twice the rate of diabetes as white women, finding a food or beverage link to the disease could help with prevention. Researchers found that black women who drank two or more sugary soft or fruit drinks each week had a higher risk of diabetes. Sugar-free soft drinks and orange juice were not shown to increase risk. However, body weight was the main factor tied to diabetes.

The second study looked at fruit and vegetable intake as measured by blood levels of vitamin C. Those people with the highest blood levels of vitamin C were less likely to have diabetes. People who eat more fruits and vegetables tend to weigh less than those who eat few fruits and veggies.

A third study assessed dietary patterns and diabetes risk. The authors found no evidence that eating a low-fat diet reduced older women's risk for diabetes. However, the researcher noted that weight, rather than intake of total fat, was the main predictor of diabetes development.

All three studies point to weight control as the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes. The three studies also lend support to the Diabetes Prevention Program Study that reported that 30 minutes of moderate activity coupled with a 5 percent to 10 percent weight loss produced a 58 percent reduction in the development of diabetes.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution