Teenagers who are unfit triple their diabetes risk
POOR physical fitness at a young age trebles the chances of diabetes later in life, research suggests.
The link is unrelated to weight and researchers say it reinforces the importance of regular exercise.
It means a snapshot of teenagers’ fitness could “predict” whether the disease will strike in future.
Professor Peter Katzmarzyk, a child obesity specialist who analysed the results, said they “should not be ignored”.
Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine in New York used data on more than one million 18- year- old Swedish army conscripts who were tested for strength and aerobic fitness between 1969 and 1997.
They tracked the men until 2012, when half of them were aged 46. Analysis in the Annals Of Internal Medicine showed men who were least fit at 18 were three times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes – even those with a healthy weight.
The combination of low aerobic and muscular fitness increased the risk of the disease, experts said.
Britain faces a diabetes epidemic that costs the health service £ 1million an hour or £ 10billion a year.
About 90 per cent of its four million sufferers have Type 2 diabetes which is caused almost entirely by unhealthy lifestyles.
Guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity a week but most fail to achieve this.
Naveed Sattar Professor of Metabolic Medicine at the University of Glasgow, said: “The best way to get fit and keep fit is to remain physically active.
“This study reiterates the same old message: staying active and keeping fit will help reduce the risk of diabetes in later life.”
Lead researcher Dr Casey Crump said: “Not only were both low aerobic and muscular fitness linked with a higher long- term risk of diabetes, but this was true even among those with normal body mass index.”
He said young people should maintain regular exercise and avoid spending too much time online.