A national 10-year study that included Hawaii participants reports that intensive lifestyle changes aimed at modest weight loss and increased physical activity reduced the rate of developing type 2 diabetes by 34 percent.

Researchers also found a 13 percent reduction in the rate of diabetes by those treated with metformin, an oral medicine used to treat diabetes.
Native Hawaiians, Asians and other minorities have a significantly higher risk of developing the disease.
Intensive lifestyle changes consisted of lowering fat and calories in the diet and increasing regular physical activity to 150 minutes per week.
Hawaii endocrinologist Dr. Richard Arakaki, a principal investigator in the study, said not enough emphasis has been placed on trying to prevent diabetes, and the research should give hope to those with high risk factors.
“If you could just prevent diabetes with simple lifestyle interventions, it could have a tremendous impact. Just because you mother had it or your father had it, you don’t have to get diabetes. You really can do something to reduce your risk,” said Arakaki, a professor at the University of Hawaii-Manoa's John A. Burns School of Medicine.
The study is federally funded, primarily by the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.