Diabetes Starts Where The Sidewalk Ends

If you live in an area where walking is a hassle, you are at a higher risk for developing diabetes.

A study by researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences in Toronto shows that people in neighborhoods without accessible sidewalks are more likely to develop diabetes than those living in the most walk-friendly areas.

The researchers found that the diabetes risk was particularly high among immigrants in poor neighborhoods. Those immigrants living in areas with fewer destinations within a 10-minute walk, lower residential density and poorly connected streets were 50 percent more likely to develop diabetes than folks living in the most walkable areas.

“Although diabetes can be prevented through physical activity, healthy eating and weight loss, we found the environment in which one lives is also an important indicator for determining risk,” says researcher Dr. Gillian Booth, an endocrinologist at St. Michael’s.