Diabetes Rates Fall in Neighborhoods With Healthy Food, Parks and Gyms
Diabetes Rates Fall in Neighborhoods With Healthy Food, Parks and Gyms
Study suggests making these resources easily accessible, affordable might cut odds of disease
MONDAY, June 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Neighborhoods with easy access to healthy foods and safe places to exercise may help residents reduce their risk for type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
The study found that the risk of developing diabetes was 12 percent lower in neighborhoods with access to healthy foods. The researchers also found a 21 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in areas with greater opportunities for physical activity.
"Most of the efforts to prevent type 2 diabetes focus on individuals," said lead researcher Paul Christine of the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Our study points to the need to consider neighborhood environments as targets that could complement individual-based intervention programs," he said.
A greater availability of places to exercise included gyms and pleasant places to walk, Christine said.
And, while the availability of healthy food was important, "simply having more supermarkets or fruit and vegetable markets in one's neighborhood did not translate into a lower risk for diabetes," Christine said.
Other factors that played a role included the cost of healthy food and the ability of residents to afford it, he said.
The report was published in the June 29 online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.
For the study, Christine's team collected data on more than 5,000 people who didn't have type 2 diabetes at the start of the study. The participants' health was followed from 2000 to 2012.
The researchers collected data on the neighborhoods the participants lived in, particularly on the availability of healthy food and safe places to exercise.
During the study period, 12 percent of the participants developed type 2 diabetes, the investigators found.
Type 2 diabetes was more likely to be diagnosed in people who were black or Hispanic, or who had low incomes or less education, the study found. People who developed type 2 diabetes were also more likely to be overweight or obese and have a family history of type 2 diabetes. Those who ended up with diabetes were also less likely to exercise or to have a healthy diet, the researchers said.
Healthy Food, Parks, Gyms Lower Diabetes Rates
Study suggests making these resources easily accessible, affordable might cut odds of disease
MONDAY, June 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Neighborhoods with easy access to healthy foods and safe places to exercise may help residents reduce their risk for type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.
The study found that the risk of developing diabetes was 12 percent lower in neighborhoods with access to healthy foods. The researchers also found a 21 percent reduced risk of type 2 diabetes in areas with greater opportunities for physical activity.
"Most of the efforts to prevent type 2 diabetes focus on individuals," said lead researcher Paul Christine of the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor, Mich. "Our study points to the need to consider neighborhood environments as targets that could complement individual-based intervention programs," he said.
A greater availability of places to exercise included gyms and pleasant places to walk, Christine said.
And, while the availability of healthy food was important, "simply having more supermarkets or fruit and vegetable markets in one's neighborhood did not translate into a lower risk for diabetes," Christine said.
Other factors that played a role included the cost of healthy food and the ability of residents to afford it, he said.
The report was published in the June 29 online edition of JAMA Internal Medicine.
For the study, Christine's team collected data on more than 5,000 people who didn't have type 2 diabetes at the start of the study. The participants' health was followed from 2000 to 2012.
The researchers collected data on the neighborhoods the participants lived in, particularly on the availability of healthy food and safe places to exercise.
During the study period, 12 percent of the participants developed type 2 diabetes, the investigators found.
Type 2 diabetes was more likely to be diagnosed in people who were black or Hispanic, or who had low incomes or less education, the study found. People who developed type 2 diabetes were also more likely to be overweight or obese and have a family history of type 2 diabetes. Those who ended up with diabetes were also less likely to exercise or to have a healthy diet, the researchers said.
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