A new research in Sweden, conducted on young men, revealed that the risk for developing type 2 diabetes later in life is higher in case of youngsters who have low levels of muscle strength and cardio-respiratory fitness.

“Not only were both low aerobic and muscular fitness linked with a higher long-term risk of diabetes, but this was true even among those with normal body mass index (BMI)”, said Dr. Casey Crump of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and the lead author of the study.

Dr. Crump added that the consolidated risk arising from the above two factors is much more than the sum of the individual risks caused by them. The research involved tracking over a million military recruits in Sweden during the period from 1969 to 1997. The study subjects were 18 years of age and did not possess any prior history of diabetes. These recruits were followed up for developing type 2 diabetes until 2012.

The outcome revealed that approximately 2% or 34,000 men were detected with diabetes during the tracking period, lasting primarily into middle age, while 50% of them were detected after 46 years of age. Furthermore, it was found that those conscripts who showed minimum level of fitness at the age of 18 years posed triple risk of being diagnosed with diabetes, as compared to recruits who have better aerobic capacity and strength despite healthy BMI.

According to Peter T. Katzmarzyk of Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the research found that since it is important to keep a track of various fitness factors in an effort to predict having diabetes in future regardless of body weight, therefore, fitness traits must not be overlooked.

Crump stated that physical fitness is primarily determined by activity level and genetics, with activity level being the vital changeable trait.