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MaggieWize

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Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I am tall and slim and so are my family members who all have diabetes. Why does Diabetes UK refer to overweight people?
 
In what context do they refer to overweight people? Far as I know, but only been a member for the last 40+ years, they've never stated that ONLY the overweight ever get Type 2 diabetes.

Many outwardly slender folk are thin outside but fat inside, ie fat has settled around their internal organs rather than manifesting itself under the skin and therefore having visible fat. Ages since, Michael Mosley discovered he was TOFI, even though he's a doctor and reasonably healthy and fit - so for all you or I know, TOFI might run in your family cos it isn't one of the things any of us can easily check, but it's a certain fact that not everyone overweight or even obese, always gets diabetes - and it has been quite long recognised by now that there's a genetic element for diabetes.
 
Welcome to the forum @MaggieWize

People of all shapes and sizes develop T2. Whatever the cause of anyone’s diagnosis we are not able to process the amount of glucose in our system. For T1 this will, in general, be by injecting the insulin needed. For T2 there are a variety of strategies, and some are able to put their T2 in remissions through changes to diet and lifestyle.

A good start could be to keep a brutally honest food diary. If you also test your levels at home, a record of these both before and two hours after your meal will help you to see any patterns in the levels. I was surprised by the impact of some ‘healthy’ foods in my glucose levels. We are all different and need to find what works for us. I was skinny at diagnosis but when I started to need injections for all the carbs I eat, I realised just how many I was eating at each meal. I chose to reduce this to reduce the amount of insulin I needed to inject.

Looking through some of the resources on the DUK website I see acknowledgement of people developing T2 for a variety of reasons. There are also lots of resources on offer to support people in making changes. Some of these relate to weight loss as that is a factor for some of those with diabetes (whether T2 or T1). I know that the press often assumes that anyone with diabetes must have been overweight. I am good at shouting at the radio!!
 
Hi MaggieWize, welcome to the forum.

Glad that you’ve found us though sorry to hear that there’s been some confusion regarding weight and diabetes.

Was there a particular piece of information that you’re referring to?

Theres a variety of elements that impact diabetes and weight is only one of them for some people.

Do let us know if there’s anything we can help with in relation to managing diabetes.
 
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