People who are not physically active in their youth are more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes even if they're not overweight or obese. Low cardiorespiratory capacity and poor muscle strength are considered to be long-term risk factors for the disease in adulthood.

A Swedish study on young teenage boys found that poor physical fitness at age 18 can lead to three times the risk for type 2 diabetes in adulthood. The risk was found to be true for all individuals, regardless of body mass index (BMI).

Physical Activity May Play a Crucial Role in Type 2 Diabetes Prevention

The research, done by Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Lead author Dr. Casey Crump states that their study was the first of its kind to explore the relationship between the level of physical activity in childhood and adult type 2 diabetes.

For their research, Dr. Crump and colleagues analyzed the health data of more than a million 18-year old military conscripts in Sweden without a prior diabetes diagnosis. They tracked the men until the age of 62 and determined when they were diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

33,000 men had diabetes and around half of them were diagnosed in their 40s. The researchers found that 18-years-old who were the least active at the time they were conscripted were likely to be diagnosed with disease even if they had a normal BMI.

According to Crump, copious physical activity in youth will reduce the risk of diabetes regardless of genetics and BMI or being overweight or obese. Physical inactivity is a known risk factor for type 2 diabetes, which is also the most common form of the disease among adults. 

Adult Diabetes Prevention Should Start in Childhood

Dr. Neil Calman of Mount Sinai Health System recommends that children and teens get adequate play, exercise and physical activity to stem the onset of adult diabetes later in life. He adds that the research provides a lot of insight to the disease.

"Our research group is also studying the effects of aerobic fitness, muscular strength and BMI on other health outcomes, including ischemic heart disease and cancer," Dr. Crump explained in a press release as per Press Rocket Release. "We need more longitudinal measurements of physical fitness over individuals' life course to determine age windows of greatest susceptibility to its effects on Type 2 Diabetes."