Diabetes Risk Factors Include Obesity

We've known for a long time that being obese is one of the diabetes risk factors, now a new bit of research finds that the volume of extra weight, and the length of time it's carried, can raise that risk even more. That's of special concern to medical professionals given the growing numbers of obese kids and teens in America. These kids are packing on the pounds earlier and will therefore spend more years carrying more weight than is good for them than any other generation.

Evidence from research and personal experience will tell you that your weight creeps up as you get older. If you're already starting out heavy, that isn't a good sign - obese kids are far more likely to become obese adults.

Beyond diabetes, being obese is a well-recognized contributor to heart disease, disability and early death.

According to researchers the relationship between what you weigh and diabetes risk is the same as that between smoking and lung cancer risk. In fact, BMI is a better predictor of diabetes risk than using body weight on its own.

The finding suggests an increase in the number of diabetes diagnoses in the U.S.

The team looked at data on almost 8,000 teens, calculating how much over a healthy body mass index, BMI they were, and the length of time they were overweight or obese. Those who had a BMI of over 25.0 for a significant period had an increased risk of diabetes.

So for example, if you had a BMI of over 35 for a decade, you were thought to have the equal of a century of excess BMI. That's a pretty big "dose" of extra weight.

Black and Hispanic subjects had an even greater risk of diabetes than whites that were carrying the same levels of extra weight for the same time. For people with a BMI over 35.0, Hispanics were two times as likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than whites, and blacks had a 1.5 times as likely to get diabetes than whites.

Because children are becoming overweight much earlier and are carrying the weight for much longer over their lifetimes, there is a good chance we'll see diabetes rates on the rise like never before.

The BMI numbers are certainly higher than just 20 years ago - in the 1970s and 1980s, just 5% of children were considered obese - in 2000 over 13% were obese, and 2009 stats have obesity at 18% of the population of children in this country. Obesity prevention programs need to focus efforts on both teens and young people, particularly those in minority groups.

So if you're a parent what can you do?

To lose the extra fat, kids need to eat a healthier diet and get at least 30 minutes a day of rigorous exercise. The secret to weight loss, at any age, is simply taking in fewer calories than you burn off by your daily activities. Going forward, medical professionals will likely start paying attention to not just patients BMI but the length of time (or "dose") spent at that weight when assessing diabetes risk factors.