Lower Diabetes Risk in Healthy Neighborhoods

(October 14, 2009) - If you are at risk of developing diabetes (Read about "Diabetes"), you might want to move to an area where it's easy to get out and exercise and good food is readily available. Individuals living in neighborhoods conducive to physical activity and providing access to healthy foods may have a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes in a five-year period, according to a report in the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"The worldwide epidemic of type 2 diabetes mellitus is largely driven by the combined rise in obesity (Read about "Obesity"), intake of energy-dense or nutrient-poor foods and physical inactivity," the authors write as background information in the article. Interventions to reduce risk on the individual level - including surgery, medication and behavior change - have had mixed results. Large-scale behavior change may be necessary to reverse the diabetes epidemic, but such a change is difficult to achieve and may be unsustainable if the surrounding environment is not supportive.

Researchers studied 2,285 adults age 45 to 84 who were initially examined between 2000 and 2002. Study participants were from three of the sites in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) for which neighborhood level data were obtained. Blood glucose levels were obtained from study participants at baseline and at three follow-up examinations, during which other individual characteristics also were assessed (including diet, body mass index (Read about "Body Mass Index") and physical activity levels).

Measures of neighborhood resources were obtained from a separate assessment, the Community Survey, in which other residents of the same neighborhoods (defined as the area within a 20-minute walk or a mile from their homes) rated the suitability of their environment for physical activity and access to healthy foods. For instance, they were asked if it was pleasant or easy to walk in their neighborhood, and whether a large, high-quality selection of fruits, vegetables and other low-fat foods was available. Scores for physical activity and healthy foods were calculated for each neighborhood on scales of one to five (with five representing the healthiest areas).

"Better neighborhood resources, determined by a combined score for physical activity and healthy foods, were associated with a 38 percent lower incidence of type 2 diabetes," the authors write.

Related Information:

    Getting Started on Fitness

    Walking for Health