Various measurements are used to predict the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes so patients and their care providers can take steps to reduce that particular risk.
A new, simple method of prediction might be measuring the size of the wrist.
Investigators at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran, compared wrist sizes in men and women who did not have diabetes and followed them for 8.
8 years to determine which ones developed the condition.
Their study, reported on in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism January 2013, included 6393 adult participants.
By the end of the study 649 new cases of Type 2 diabetes developed...

• men with a large wrist measurement had a 17 per cent higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes than men with smaller wrists.
  
• women with large wrists had a 31 per cent higher risk of developing the condition.
  In women, the wrist measurement was found to predict risk regardless of body mass index.
  

From this information, it was concluded wrist measurements could be a significant way to predict the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, at least in women.
The National Institute of Health in Washington D.
C.
, United States, lists normal wrist sizes for men and women.

• for men over 5 feet, 5 inches in height, a medium wrist size is considered to be 6.
  5 inches to 7.
  5 inches.
  
• a woman between 5 feet, 2 inches and 5 feet, 5 inches in height would have a medium wrist size of 6 inches to 6.
  25 inches.
  

Of course, some individuals have larger bones and frame sizes than others.
Wrist size should be carefully evaluated to determine whether what is being measured is just right for the individual or whether extra fat is making the wrist size larger than it should be.
If your wrist size is high due to having too much fat, the next step is to come up with a plan for getting rid of your excess.
Eating only vegan foods with a low glycemic index is one way of filling up without taking in too many calories.
Foods with a low glycemic index are veggies and many fruits with lots of fiber for the amount of sugar they provide.
Another way is to increase your physical activity.
Aerobic exercise, the type that makes your heart beat faster and makes you breathe faster, is good not only for burning calories but for conditioning your heart.
Muscle training, the kind of exercise that makes you grunt, is also good, but not as good as the aerobic kind, so start moving.
People who work with dogs say dogs should be walked two or three times a day, so another option is to take your best friend out in the morning and evening.