This One Thing Could Predict if You'll Get Diabetes, Says Study

From eatthis.com

This childhood condition has been linked to type 2 diabetes

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, about ten percent of Americans, or 34 million, suffer from diabetes. 90 to 95 percent of them have type 2 diabetes, meaning your body doesn't use insulin properly. There are multiple risk factors for diabetes, some of them preventable and others not. Researchers are continually studying diabetes, hoping to gain more understanding about what causes it and how to prevent it. Recently new findings have identified a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes, that could help prevent many people from developing the condition. Read on to find out the risk factor.

Your Childhood BMI Could Predict Diabetes

The research letter, published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology found that childhood obesity—a high body mass index (BMI)—could be a significant risk factor for type 2 diabetes and early myocardial infarction, and ultimately lead to overall worse health in young adulthood regardless of BMI.

Researchers used BMI z-scores of 12,300 children between the ages of 11 and 18 with 24 years of follow-up self-reported data via the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. They found that a higher BMI in adolescence was responsible for a 2.6 percent increase in overall poor health, a 8.8 percent greater risk for type 2 diabetes and 0.8 percent increased risk for early myocardial infarction for adults in their 30s and 40s—regardless of their adult BMI.

"The finding that adolescent BMI is a risk factor for poor health outcomes in adulthood, regardless of adult BMI, has significant implications for our understanding of cardiovascular disease onset," study lead Jason M. Nagata, MD, MSc, stated in a press release. "Considering these findings, health care providers should consider BMI history when assessing for cardiovascular and chronic disease risk."

"Our study suggests that adolescence is an important time period to optimize health and prevent early heart attacks," Nagata continued. "Paediatricians should encourage teens to develop healthy behaviours including physical activity and balanced meals."

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