Excess Belly Fat Risk Factor for Diabetes Type 2

Discover how excess belly fat is one of the highest risk factors for diabetes type 2 and what you can do to prevent it.

Understanding the risk factors for diabetes type 2 is important in the prevention of this disease. While suffering from it is fairly common in our society, there is a great advantage in knowing what you can do, or how you can adjust your lifestyle to avoid the ailment.

When someone is diagnosed with pre-diabetes, there are many progressive changes that can be made to prevent further deterioration of their health. Certain factors such as diet and exercise are easier to manage than the rest and actually help in the type 2 diabetes prevention management plan.

In many instances, risk factors for diabetes type 2 have a lot to do with our past history and our environment. For example, one can be more prone to develop the disease if:

There is a history of family diabetes
Has being diagnosed with pre-diabetes
Is overweight, and particularly there is excess of belly fat in the stomach area
You are 45 years of age or older
You are physically inactive most of the time
Suffers from high blood pressure
Suffers from high cholesterol and high triglycerides
There is a history of heart disease present
Have a history of gestational diabetes (women)
In the case of genetic factors, there is a higher risk if you are African American, Native American, Asian American, Hispanic/Latino, or Pacific Islander.

While all of these are important risk factors for diabetes type 2 and it is imperative to get regular check-ups if responding in the affirmative to some or all of these, one may still wonder if these are the most common type 2 diabetes causes.

In reality, the most important factors when talking about type 2 diabetes prevention is weight and belly fat.

Sure, consuming a lot of sugar does not cause diabetes directly, but it does promote weight gain, and in many cases it leads to being overweight or suffering from obesity. Under these circumstances, the amount of body fat one stores is particularly telling in whether or not one could develop diabetes.

Moreover, type 2 diabetes causes can also arise from genetic factors. In particular, there is a special gene that deserves extra attention – called KLF14 – not because it causes excess of weight, but it does affect the way fat is distributed within the body.

This has proven to be an important point in the research of additional risk factors for diabetes type 2, since it allows for the understanding of how genetic data can also trigger the disease, and is no longer only associated with weight excess.

So, what can you do as part of a type 2 diabetes prevention plan? In addition to getting routinely checked up, you can talk to your Specialist about conducting a test to determine whether or not there are genetic factors that could make you prone to developing the disease.

Furthermore, maintaining a healthy weight is key, not only in the prevention of diabetes, but also in avoiding other health complications that could put your entire system at risk, including suffering from high cholesterol, developing heart problems, having high blood pressure, etc.

Adding a good amount of physical activity to your daily life is also another great way of improving and maintaining good health, as the number of benefits that come from it are wide and varied, and in the most simple of cases, it will leave you feeling energized, help you sleep better and improve your cardiovascular performance.

If you believe that you are at risk of developing pre-diabetes or diabetes type 2, talk to your Physician and Specialist right way. One of the best things you can do for yourself and your wellbeing is get a prompt diagnosed and start executing a prevention or management plan that works for your case.