Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 7:47 AM

91% OF ADULT ONSET DIABETES DUE TO LIFESTYLE FACTORS

Exercise Heads List of Preventive Strategies

Yesterday's issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reported that 91%
of the cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented if people exercised
more, ate better, and adopted a healthy lifestyle.

The article reported on a study, involving 85,000 nurses, compared 3,300
nurses who contracted Type 2 diabetes with nurses who lead healthy
lifestyles. The study, headed by Dr. Frank Hu, was conducted by the
Harvard School of Public Health. (Press Release Attached)

John McCarthy
IHRSA

This report is issued by IHRSA and IFCN (TheInternational Fitness Club
Network) in the interest of reaching
100,000,000 health club members worldwide by the year 2010.

* IFCN serves the wellness needs of 30,000,000 American employees by
providing them
access to IHRSA health clubs.

Thursday September 13 10:16 AM ET

Study Finds Adult Diabetes 90% Preventable

By Gene Emery

BOSTON (Reuters) - Nine out of 10 cases of type 2 diabetes could be
prevented if people exercised more, ate better, stopped smoking and adopted
other healthy behaviors, according to a report in Thursday's issue of The
New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites).

The study findings suggest behavior is the main culprit in type 2 diabetes,
also known as adult-onset diabetes, and that 91% of the diabetes cases that
appeared among 85,000 female nurses ``could be attributed to habits and
forms of behavior.''

``The majority of cases of type 2 diabetes could be prevented by the
adoption of a healthier lifestyle,'' reported researchers led by Dr. Frank
Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body cannot properly use the blood
sugar-controlling hormone insulin. Obesity is known to be a major
contributor to the condition. Hu's team wanted to determine the extent of
the role lifestyle plays in type 2 diabetes.

Using diet and lifestyle questionnaires, Hu's team compared data on the
3,300 nurses who developed diabetes over a 16-year period with data on those
who did not. The most important risk factor, they found, was being
overweight. The heavier a nurse was, the greater the risk.

But even having a weight at the high end of the normal range nearly tripled
the risk, Hu pointed out.

On the other hand, physical activity showed a strong protective effect.
Women who exercised for 7 or more hours per week were half as likely to
develop diabetes than women who exercised for less than half an hour weekly,
the researchers found.

They noted that the same precautions for preventing type 2
diabetes--including exercise and weight control--also guard against heart
disease.