Diabetes Risk for Senior Citizens Determined by Same
Lifestyle Factors as Younger People
Study of seniors finds physical activity, good
dietary habits, not smoking and light alcohol use lowers diabetes risk
by 82%; four in five new cases attributable to not having these low-risk
factors.
April 27, 2009 – An abundance of research has well
established how poor life style choices can pave the way to diabetes for
younger people. A new study – one of the first to look at how these same
risk factors may apply to senior citizens – has found that they do. Even
for older adults, lifestyle factors such as physical activity, dietary
habits, smoking, alcohol use and of body fat are associated with risk of
new-onset diabetes.
"Given medical challenges, health care costs,
long-term complications and growing incidence and prevalence of type 2
diabetes mellitus, preventing the onset of clinical diabetes is of
paramount importance," the authors write in the April 27 issue of
Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals..
While previous studies have found lifestyle factors
such as level of physical activity, diet, smoking habits, alcohol use
and body fat levels as risk factors linked to onset of diabetes in
younger populations, the combined impact of these factors on risk of
diabetes in older adults has largely been unknown.
Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.P.H., of Harvard
School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard
Medical School, Boston, and colleagues with the Cardiovascular Health
Study examined the relationships of lifestyle risk factors with
incidence of diabetes during a 10-year period (1989 to 1998) among 4,883
senior men and women age 65 years or older.
At the beginning of the study, the average
participant age was 73 years, 58.6 percent were women and 11.4 percent
were nonwhite; 95 percent of nonwhite participants were black.
Approximately half of the participants had never
smoked.
Low-risk lifestyle groups were defined by -
● physical activity level (leisure time activity and walking pace)
above the mid-point;
● dietary score (higher fiber intake and polyunsaturated to
saturated fat ratio, lower trans-fat intake and lower average glycemic
index);
● amount of smoking, if any;
● alcohol use (predominantly light or moderate);
● body mass index less than 25; and
● waist circumference of 34.6 inches or less for women or 36 inches
or less for men.
After adjustment for age, sex, race, educational
level, annual income and other lifestyle factors simultaneously, each
lifestyle risk factor was independently associated with incidence of
diabetes.
Overall, each additional lifestyle factor an
individual had in the lower-risk group was associated with a 35 percent
lower risk of diabetes.
Individuals in the low-risk category for only
physical activity level and dietary habits (nearly one in four adults)
had a 46 percent lower incidence of diabetes.
Combining low-risk groups for physical activity
level, dietary habits, smoking habits and alcohol use (6 percent of
participants), an 82 percent lower risk of diabetes was present, and
four in five new cases of diabetes appeared to be attributable to not
having these low-risk lifestyle factors.
Adding either not being overweight or not having
large waist circumference was associated with an 89 percent lower risk
of diabetes.
"These findings provide an estimate of the public
health burden of combined nonoptimal lifestyle risk factors for
incidence of diabetes in older adults, the fastest growing segment of
the U.S. population," the authors write.
"Our findings suggest that, even later in life, the
great majority of cases of diabetes are related to lifestyle factors."
Keep up with the latest news for senior citizens, baby
boomers
April 27, 2009 – An abundance of research has well
established how poor life style choices can pave the way to diabetes for
younger people. A new study – one of the first to look at how these same
risk factors may apply to senior citizens – has found that they do. Even
for older adults, lifestyle factors such as physical activity, dietary
habits, smoking, alcohol use and of body fat are associated with risk of
new-onset diabetes.