Low Birth Weight May Be Contributing Cause.

PositionTYPE 2 DIABETES

People who are a low weight at birth and have unhealthy habits as adults, such as eating nutritionally poor diets or smoking, may have a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than people born at an average weight who live similar lifestyles, according to a study led by researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass. The researchers found that 18% of cases were attributable to the combined effect of low birth weight and unhealthy adult lifestyles.

"Most cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by the adoption of a healthier lifestyle, but these findings suggest that efforts focused on early life development, such as improving nutrition for pregnant women, could prevent additional cases," says senior author Lu Qi, associate professor in the Department of Nutrition.

Diabetes has become a worldwide epidemic, with more than 5,000,000 deaths last year and 387,000,000 people living with the disease, reports the International Diabetes Federation, Brussels, Belgium. Type 2 diabetes, which represents 85%-95% of all cases, has been linked to both unhealthy lifestyles and negative early life development factors, including low birth weight and prenatal...

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