Women who develop diabetes while pregnant are at risk of delivering a baby with macrosomia — otherwise known as a fat baby. Gestational diabetes goes away, though many women who had it develop Type 2 diabetes later in life. Treatment includes healthy eating, exercise and, in some cases, insulin injections.
Studies indicate that even moderate weight loss and exercise can help prevent or delay the disease among people with “pre-diabetes,” a reversible condition where blood sugar is too high, but not high enough to be diabetes.
“We look at helping people make small changes they can live with,” says Nadine Uplinger, R.D., director of the Gutman Diabetes Institute at Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. “If you’re really sedentary, you can’t jump up and walk for 30 minutes. But maybe you could walk for five.
“What we’re talking about is becoming more active than you currently are.”
About 95 percent of people with diabetes have Type 2. Risk factors include being overweight, inactive or over 45, having a family history of diabetes, or being African-American, Hispanic, American Indian or Asian American. High blood pressure and high cholesterol also play a role. For people who are overweight and have other risk factors, Uplinger suggests slowly increasing activity and eating healthier.