Diabetes Health Center

Preventing type 2 diabetes

You can take steps to prevent type 2 diabetes. Even small changes can make a difference, and it is never too late to start making healthier choices.

• Maintain a healthy weight. To find out if you are overweight, you can use the body mass index (BMI) chart for adults or the same chart in metric . If you need to lose weight, losing as few as 10 lb (4.5 kg) to 20 lb (9.1 kg) can help reduce your risk of developing diabetes.²
• Exercise regularly. Getting enough exercise lowers your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.⁴ Do activities that raise your heart rate. Try to do moderate activity at least 2½ hours a week. Or try to do vigorous activity at least 1¼ hours a week. It's fine to be active in blocks of 10 minutes or more throughout your day and week. Also include resistance exercises in your exercise program.^{5, 6} Resistance exercises can include activities like weight lifting or even yard work. This does not mean that you have to do strenuous activities or join an expensive gym-anything that increases your heart rate counts. Walking groups or programs where you use a pedometer to count the number of steps you take in a day are great ways to start exercising and to stay motivated. If you are at risk for type 2 diabetes, using an exercise planning form(What is a PDF document?) may help you and your doctor or other health professional to create a personalized exercise program.
• Eat healthy foods.
  • Eat a balanced diet, including whole grains, lean meat, and vegetables.
  • Limit saturated fats.
  • Limit alcohol.
  • Limit calories in order to avoid gaining weight, or to help you lose weight.
  • Reduce your intake of soft drinks, sugary foods, and junk food.
  • Eat smaller meals more often in order to keep blood sugar levels within your target range.
  Eating more vegetables, whole grains, and nuts can lower your risk for type 2 diabetes.⁷ Eating a lot of sugary foods, fast foods, and red meat (especially processed red meat) and drinking a lot of soft drinks can increase your risk for type 2 diabetes.^{8, 9, 10} If you want to learn more about eating well, see the topic Healthy Eating.
• Get treatment if you have prediabetes. If your fasting blood sugar levels are in the range from 100 mg/dL to 125 mg/dL, you are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes.²

Preventing diabetes complications

You can help prevent or delay problems with your eyes, heart, nerves, and kidneys if you:

• Keep your blood sugar levels within your target range.
• Talk to your doctor about taking a low-dose aspirin to prevent a heart attack, a stroke, or other large blood vessel diseases (macrovascular disease).
• Control your blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
• Take an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB) medicine at the first sign of diabetic nephropathy, even if you do not have high blood pressure.²
• Get regular eye exams.
• Take good care of your feet.
• Quit smoking. If you smoke cigarettes, talk with your doctor about ways to quit. Smoking contributes to the early development of diabetes complications.¹¹ For more information, see the topic Quitting Smoking.