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risk-factors-for-diabetes

Do I have a risk of developing diabetes?

These are factors that increase your risk of developing diabetes:


  • Being overweight: For Asians, a BMI (BMI = body mass index = bodyweight in kg divided by height squared in metres) greater than 23 kg/m²  is considered overweight. For other ethnicities such as African, Black American, Caucasian, Middle Easterner and Latin American, a BMI greater than 25 kg/m² is considered overweight. For “Other” ethnicities in which there is no scientifically validated data, Aktivo® will use a BMI of greater than 23 kg/m² as overweight, which may overestimate the risk of disease.


  • Physical inactivity: The greater your inactivity, the greater your risk. Your Aktivo Score® can be used to improve your physical activity.


  • Low dietary fibre intake: You can increase your fibre intake by following recommendations in the recipe section.


  • Having a parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes.


  • Age: Your risk of developing diabetes increases as you get older.


  • Smoking: The more cigarettes you smoke per day, the greater your risk of type 2 diabetes.


  • Too much alcohol can make you gain weight and increase your BMI.


  • Some ethnicities are prone to diabetes, especially Asians, Africans and Hispanics.


REFERENCES


  1. Hsu, W. C., Araneta, M. R., Kanaya, A. M., Chiang, J. L., & Fujimoto, W. (2015). BMI cut points to identify at-risk Asian Americans for type 2 diabetes screening. Diabetes care, 38(1), 150–158. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc14-2391

  2. Lindström, J., & Tuomilehto, J. (2003). The diabetes risk score: a practical tool to predict type 2 diabetes risk. Diabetes care, 26(3), 725–731. https://doi.org/10.2337/diacare.26.3.725

  3. Colberg, S. R., Sigal, R. J., Fernhall, B., Regensteiner, J. G., Blissmer, B. J., Rubin, R. R., Chasan-Taber, L., Albright, A. L., Braun, B., American College of Sports Medicine, & American Diabetes Association (2010). Exercise and type 2 diabetes: the American College of Sports Medicine and the American Diabetes Association: joint position statement. Diabetes care, 33(12), e147–e167. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc10-9990

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