Is Diabetes Synonymous with being Overweight?
When clients are diagnosed with diabetes, I am often asked, “Why do I have a sugar problem? I am at a healthy weight and only eat brown rice and tofu; how is this possible? Isn’t diabetes a disease for overweight people?"
What most clients don’t realize is that there are 2 types of diabetes and a number of non-modfiable factors for developing the disease. (i.e., age, family history etc..)
Type 1 diabetes is where the body does not produce insulin at all. It is the less common form (only accounting for approximately 5% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes). There is no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes, and patient can be normal or even underweight when diagnosed. Weight has no direct correlation with this disease.
Type 2, on the other hand, is where the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells do not react to insulin well due to excess amount of fat (insulin resistance). According to CDC, type 2 diabetes account for about 90-95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. It is associated with race, older age, obesity, history of gestational diabetes and/or pre diabetes, and physical inactivity.
With overweight and obesity rates on the rise in the US, the incidence of type 2 diabetes increase dramatically. Excess weight gain will certainly increase your risk of developing the disease-especially if you carry around your waist line. If you go to the American Diabetes Association Web site, you can do the risk test to see your chances of getting diabetes.
As mentioned above, your race/ ethnicity also factors into your risk of developing diabetes. For example, if you are Asian, your healthy weight range is different than someone who is Caucasian or African American. A healthy weight for Asian is less than 23 on the body mass index as opposed to 25 on Caucasian or African American. Healthy waist line to prevent metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia) for Asian women is 31 inches and Asian men is 35 inches as opposed to 35 inches for Caucasian/African American women vs 40 inches for Caucasian/ African American men!
So, while we can’t change our non-modifiable factors such as ethnicity and age, we can change modifiable factors such as eating habits, daily physical activity to prevent this chronic condition which is proven in DPP(Diabetes Prevention Program) Study.
If you would like more pointer for reducing your risk level for developing diabetes, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with me!
