A major international study has found that healthy lifestyle choices may dramatically lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, even among people with strong genetic risk factors for the disease.
The research, led by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, suggests that more than half of type 2 diabetes cases might potentially be prevented through healthier daily habits.
The findings were published in the medical journal Diabetes and are based on data from more than 332,000 adults living in the United Kingdom. Researchers followed participants for nearly 14 years and examined how genetics and lifestyle worked together to influence diabetes risk over time.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious long-term condition that affects how the body processes sugar. Normally, the hormone insulin helps move sugar from the blood into the body’s cells for energy.
In type 2 diabetes, the body becomes resistant to insulin or cannot produce enough of it. As a result, blood sugar levels rise and can eventually damage organs and blood vessels throughout the body.
The disease has become increasingly common worldwide and is closely linked to obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, and unhealthy diets. It can lead to heart disease, kidney failure, vision loss, nerve damage, and other major complications.
At the same time, scientists know that genetics also influence diabetes risk. Some people inherit genes that make them more likely to develop the disease. This can make people with a family history of diabetes feel as though their future health is already decided.
However, the new study suggests this is far from true.
The researchers measured genetic risk using 783 known genetic variations linked to type 2 diabetes. Participants were between 40 and 69 years old when they entered the study, and researchers tracked their health outcomes using information from the UK Biobank, one of the world’s largest biomedical databases.
During the follow-up period, around 4% of participants developed type 2 diabetes.
Scientists then compared the impact of genetics with four major lifestyle factors: body weight, smoking habits, physical activity, and diet quality. These lifestyle measurements were based on recommendations from the American Heart Association.
People who followed at least three healthy lifestyle behaviors were classified as having healthy lifestyles.
The findings showed that lifestyle choices had a surprisingly strong effect on diabetes risk.
Participants with the least healthy lifestyles were nearly seven times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes compared with people who followed the healthiest habits. By comparison, people with the highest genetic risk were about 2.6 times more likely to develop diabetes than people with the lowest genetic risk.
This means that unhealthy habits appeared to increase diabetes risk much more strongly than genetics alone.
Importantly, healthier lifestyles reduced diabetes risk at every level of genetic risk. Even people with high inherited risk still benefited significantly from healthy behaviors.
Lead researcher Chi “Josh” Zhao, a doctoral student in epidemiology at UMass Amherst, said the results are encouraging because they show people are not powerless against their genes.
According to the researchers, healthier daily choices can meaningfully lower diabetes risk regardless of genetic background.
Among the lifestyle factors studied, body mass index, which measures body weight relative to height, showed the strongest connection with diabetes risk. Smoking and physical activity also played major roles. Diet still mattered but appeared to have a smaller independent effect in this particular analysis.
The researchers estimate that over 55% of new diabetes cases could theoretically be prevented if people with unhealthy lifestyles improved their habits.
This finding is especially important because type 2 diabetes is now one of the fastest-growing health problems globally. Sedentary lifestyles, processed foods, increasing obesity rates, and smoking continue to drive rising diabetes numbers in many countries.
The study also highlights an important public health message. Many people may believe that improving their health later in life will not make much difference. However, the findings suggest that even adults who make healthier changes later on may still reduce their future diabetes risk.
Professor Cassandra Spracklen, senior author of the study, explained that while people cannot change their genes, they can still improve their health outcomes through better choices.
The researchers also point out that delaying diabetes onset can itself be valuable. Even if some people eventually develop the disease, postponing it by several years may reduce complications and improve quality of life.
Scientists say the results add to growing evidence that chronic diseases are shaped by both biology and environment. Genetics matter, but daily behaviors often have enormous influence over long-term health.
If you care about diabetes, please read studies about bananas and diabetes, and honey could help control blood sugar.
For more health information, please see recent studies about Vitamin D that may reduce dangerous complications in diabetes and plant-based protein foods may help reverse type 2 diabetes.
Source: University of Massachusetts Amherst.
