Want to know if you’re going to develop diabetes? You don’t have to see a doctor – instead, take a look around your neighbourhood and you’ll get a pretty good idea.
Your neighbourhood is a good indicator of your chances of developing type II diabetes, the ‘lifestyle disease’. If you live in a pleasant area and you can walk to shops that sell healthy foods, your own chances of developing the disease seem to be lower.
A good neighbourhood can reduce you diabetes risk by as much as 38 per cent, researchers discovered after assessing the risks of 2,285 people living in diverse communities. Blood glucose levels – a key indicator for diabetes – were taken before the study, and then three times afterwards, and the levels were compared with quality of life in ‘good’ neighbourhoods. Questions that determined a good neighbourhood included how pleasant and easy it is to walk through, and closeness of shops selling healthy foods.
(Source Archives of Internal Medicine, 2009; 169: 1653-4).