Can you prevent type 2 diabetes?
In this guide we'll talk you through how to prevent type 2 diabetes. You can sometimes prevent or delay type 2 diabetes – even if there’s a history of it in your family – by making health changes.
Getting support through your GP to make these changes can help cut your risk of type 2 diabetes in half.
This means your blood sugar levels stay in the normal range, which helps keep you healthy.
People with the highest risk of type 2 diabetes are those who have prediabetes and women who have had gestational diabetes – high blood sugar levels in pregnancy.
If that sounds like you, your GP should try and help you prevent it. They should refer you to a NHS type 2 prevention course. If there isn’t one where you live, they should give you advice on how to lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. Or tell you where you can go for this information.
What can I do to prevent type 2 diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is high blood sugar levels which can lead to serious health problems. The causes of type 2 diabetes are complex. It is triggered by a combination of risk factors. This combination is individual to you.
Some of these risk factors you can try to change – like your activity levels, bodyweight, or diet. Others, such as your age, ethnicity, and genetics, can’t be changed.
Research shows the three main things that you can do to prevent type 2 diabetes, by keeping your blood sugar levels at a heathy level are:
- Losing extra weight - particularly around your middle. This can help reduce levels of internal fat in and around the liver and pancreas, so these organs start working better to manage your blood sugar levels.
- Doing more physical activity - can help your body use insulin better. Anything that makes you slightly out of breath (aerobic), such as a brisk walk, is particularly beneficial if you’re carrying extra weight around your middle. And getting up and moving around every 30 or 45 minutes if you’re inactive in front of the TV or at your desk, for example.
- Eating a diet high in fruit and vegetables, fibre and wholegrains such as brown rice and multigrain bread rather than white, and cutting back on salt, red and processed meats and avoiding sugary drinks.
Other things linked to reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes includes getting good quality sleep – if you smoke – getting NHS support to stop.
There is no quick fix. Try making small changes rather than changing everything at once. For example, if you want to make changes to your diet, pick one tip on our healthy eating page to start with. Taking one step at a time can help you make and maintain changes.
If you’re thinking of changing your diet, losing weight or trying a new physical activity, please speak to your GP first.
How do I know if I'm likely to get type 2 diabetes?
Use our online tool below, it only takes just a few minutes.
You'll need to know your height, weight and waist measurement. This tool won't be suitable if you have prediabetes or you have or have had gestational diabetes as your risk of type 2 diabetes is already known to be high.
Find out your risk of type 2 diabetes
If your results show you have a high or very high risk of type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years, you’ll get a link to a letter to take to your GP to ask for a blood test, used to diagnose prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, which is called an HbA1c.
What the blood test numbers mean:
- Normal: below 42mmol/mol
- Prediabetes: between 42mmol/ and 47mmol/l
- Type 2 diabetes: 48mmol/mol or higher.
Weight and type 2 diabetes risk
Living with overweight or obesity alone doesn’t cause type 2 diabetes as many people think, but it is one of the factors that can increase your risk.
This misunderstanding leads to unfair judgment and shame (stigma) which stops people going to healthcare appointments to get the help they need to help them lower their risk of type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is caused by a combination of factors that is individual to you. This explains why not everyone in a family will develop the condition and why people of a healthy weight including those who might describe themselves as slim, can develop type 2 diabetes.
Around one in 10 people living with type 2 diabetes are a healthy weight. (To find out your weight category, use the NHS BMI tool).
Where the body stores fat and type 2 risk
It isn’t just how much you weigh, but where your body stores fat that can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes.
If your body stores too much fat in and around organs like the liver and pancreas, it can stop them working so well to control blood sugar levels. This kind of fat is sometimes called internal fat or visceral fat. Some people call it hidden fat. Even people who look thin on the outside might have this kind of fat on the inside.
Where your body stores fat is due to your family history (genes) and ethnicity. This is why some bodies tend to store more fat under the skin (the kind that you can pinch). This kind of fat is less harmful.
How do I know if I have 'hidden fat'?
There is a simple way to check if you have high levels of hidden fat (visceral fat). Compare your waist size to your height using the online NHS calculator. This measurement has a special name - the waist-to-height ratio. You'll need a tape measure.
The results will indicate if your risk of hidden fat is lower, increased or higher.
Ethnicity and type 2 risk
Whether you are considered a healthy weight for your height will depend on your ethnicity when using the BMI tool used by the NHS.
If you are from a Black African, African Caribbean, or South Asian (Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi) background, your risk of type 2 diabetes is higher than it is for people from a White European background. You might also develop type 2 diabetes at a younger age or at a lower body weight.
A South Asian person of a healthy weight (BMI 22 kg/m2 has the same risk of type 2 diabetes as a White person living with obesity (BMI 30kg/m2 and over) studies show.
Reasons for this could be that fat is more likely to be stored in and around the organs, even for people of a healthy weight, which is influenced by family history (genes).
We know this can make it harder for you to prevent type 2 diabetes. But don’t resign yourself to developing the condition. You can still lower your risk by making the health changes mentioned in this guide. And we, as well as your GP, are here to support you.
Preventing type 2 diabetes at a healthy weight
A combination of dietary changes and increased physical activity – particularly anything that gets you slightly out of breath – can help lower your risk of type 2 diabetes. And help you maintain a healthy weight.
Other things within your control are making sure you have good quality sleep and if you smoke, getting NHS support to stop.
If you’ve been a healthy weight and have gained weight as you’ve got older, even if you’re still within a healthy weight range, it may be heavier than is healthy for you, and this can cause your blood sugar levels to rise. You may want to lose these extra pounds to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and to gain other health benefits.
Some healthcare experts call this your personal fat threshold. This may be due to your family history (genetics) and where your body stores fat.
If your BMI is in the underweight category, losing more weight is not safe and will not help you prevent type 2 diabetes. It is important you speak to your GP as you may be malnourished. They will be able to examine the underlying cause and provide any necessary treatment and support.
Preventing type 2 diabetes if living with overweight or obesity
Weight loss is one of the most important ways that people who are living with overweight or obesity can lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Research has shown that even a small amount of weight loss – around 1% to 9% of a person’s weight – can lower their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
But even if your weight doesn’t change much, or losing weight is difficult, a combination of increased physical activity and improved diet can help reduce type 2 risk.
Specifically, regular aerobic exercise - anything that gets you slightly out of breath - may modestly reduce fat around the organs (sometimes called visceral or hidden fat) in adults living with overweight or obesity, studies show.
People often ask us about weight loss medication. Find out more information about criteria for different weight loss medication on the NHS which can be prescribed by your GP.
Support for you
- We're here for you, as well as your GP, for advice or to answer your questions. Call our helpline on 0345 123 2399 and chat to one of our trained advisors. To speak in a language other than English, if you provide your name, phone number, and preferred language, we'll arrange for an interpreter to call you back within a few minutes.
- You can also use our forum to share experiences or ask questions. The site has moderators.
- If you've had prediabetes or had gestational diabetes, ask your GP about NHS type 2 prevention courses.
Thank you to the Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN) for advising on this page as well as our clinical experts.
