Young Adults’ Lack of Aerobic Fitness Increases Risk of Diabetes
According to research from Northwestern University, aerobically unfit young adults (18 – 30 years of age) are at increased risk of developing diabetes in middle age.
Most healthy 25 year olds don’t stay up at night worrying whether they are going to develop diabetes in middle age. The disease is not on their radar, and middle age is a lifetime away.
As it turns out, many should be concerned. Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have found that young adults (18 to 30 years old) with low aerobic fitness levels –as measured by a treadmill test — are two to three times more likely to develop diabetes in 20 years than those who are fit.
The study also shows that young women and young African Americans are less aerobically fit than men and white adults in the same age group, placing a larger number of these population subgroups at risk for diabetes.
“These young adults are setting the stage for chronic disease in middle age by not being physically active and fit,” said Mercedes Carnethon, lead author and assistant professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School. “People who have low fitness in their late teens and 20’s tend to stay the same later in life or even get worse. Not many climb out of that category.”
The study will be published in the July issue of Diabetes Care.
No surprise, really, since it’s well known that aerobic fitness has positive effects on insulin sensitivity. Activity – even without weight loss – helps reduce disease risk. Thus, there are good reasons to exercise, apart from simply trying to lose weight.
June 21, 2009
Diabetes is becoming a more prominent problem everyday. It would be nice if there was a way to raise the awareness of people, especially young adults.