Reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes

Advice from consultant physician Dr Kate Allen for Type 2 Diabetes Prevention Week

Our environment is harming our health. Unhealthy food that’s cheaper than fresh fruit and veg is readily available and we’re bombarded with junk food ads everywhere you turn.

Nobody chooses this lifestyle, but these obstacles put people at higher risk of type 2 diabetes. A diabetes diagnosis increases your chances of developing life-changing complications. 

Research has consistently shown that for some people, combined lifestyle interventions - including diet, physical activity and sustained weight loss - can be effective in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes by about 50%. It’s not about hitting unrealistic targets, it’s about small changes having a lasting impact on your health.

We previously thought that walking 10,000 steps every day was the right target for people, but if you walk less than that, more recent research has shown health benefits with every 1000 extra steps you take per day beyond your normal level.

Many people in Guernsey are getting out of their cars and walking or cycling.  E-bikes have been shown to improve people’s fitness as well as conventional pedal bikes, useful for those, like me, who would have been previously put off by the steep hills on the way to work.

For more information about preventing type 2 diabetes and calculating your personal risk, check out the  Diabetes UK website diabetes.org.uk.