Researchers urge students to begin watching diet and weight now, following recent findings that suggest intake of foods with a high glycemic index may increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes.

Xiao Ou Shu, senior author of the paper, said it would be premature to create national health recommendations based on the research but said it may impact public health.

“Given that a large part of the world's population consumes rice and carbohydrates as the mainstay of their diets, these prospective data linking intake of refined carbohydrates to increased risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus may have substantial implications for public health,” the researchers conclude.

Raquel Villegas, Shu and other Vanderbilt Medical Center researchers recently published the results of the study, in which they followed a group of 64,227 Chinese women for an average of five years, collecting data on dietary habits, physical activity, diabetes occurrence and other health-related information every two years between 1997 and 2004.

Shu emphasized that conclusions cannot be drawn that rice or other foods with a high glycemic index cause diabetes, but it appears that diet, combined with other lifestyle factors, seems to have a profound influence on the incidence of the disease.

“I always tell students that diabetes isn’t just for old people,” Shu said. “Disease prevention should start now, so pay attention to health factors such as having a balanced diet and being physically active, and you’ll benefit in later life.”

During the study, 1,608 of the women developed diabetes, and those consuming the most carbohydrates were found to have a 28 percent greater risk of developing diabetes than those consuming the least amount of carbohydrates.

“Traditionally, Chinese women have low incidence of diabetes, but we’ve noticed that the rate has been rising rather rapidly in the past decade,” Shu said. “We believe that Westernization has contributed to the increased risk of diabetes and other chronic diseases among this population.”

Though the results of the study cannot be directly generalized to other ethnic or population groups, many other studies have demonstrated the negative effects of poor diet, inactivity, obesity and high carbohydrate intake on diabetes, including a recent study at the Boston University School of Public Health.

“Type 2 diabetes is affecting more people, even kids at a young age, because it goes side-by-side with obesity and sedentary lifestyle,” Shu said.