Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

BACKGROUND: Whether genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes is modified by a healthy lifestyle among Chinese remains unknown. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to determine whether genetic risk and adherence to a healthy lifestyle contribute independently to the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. METHODS: We defined a lifestyle score using BMI, alcohol intake, smoking, physical activities, and diets in 461,030 participants from the China Kadoorie Biobank and 38,434 participants from the Singapore Chinese Health Study. A genetic risk score was constructed based on type 2 diabetes loci among 100,175 and 16,172 participants in each cohort, respectively. A Cox proportional-hazards model was used to estimate the interaction between genetic and lifestyle factors on the risk of type 2 diabetes. RESULTS: In 2 independent Asian cohorts, we consistently found a healthy lifestyle (the bottom quintile of lifestyle score) was associated with a substantially lower risk of type 2 diabetes than an unhealthy lifestyle (the top quintile of lifestyle score) regardless of genetic risk. In those at a high genetic risk, the risk of type 2 diabetes was 57% lower among participants with a healthy lifestyle than among those with an unhealthy lifestyle in the pooled cohorts. Among participants at high genetic risk, the standardized 10-y incidence of type 2 diabetes was 7.11% in those with an unhealthy lifestyle vs. 2.45% in those with a healthy lifestyle. CONCLUSIONS: In 2 independent cohorts involving 558,302 Chinese participants, we did not observe an interaction between genetics and lifestyle with type 2 diabetes risk, but our findings provide replicable evidence to show lifestyle factors and genetic factors were independently associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes. Within any genetic risk category, a healthy lifestyle was associated with a significantly lower risk of type 2 diabetes among the Chinese population.

Original publication

DOI

10.1093/ajcn/nqz310

Type

Journal article

Journal

Am J Clin Nutr

Publication Date

01/03/2020

Volume

111

Pages

698 - 707

Keywords

Chinese, genetics, gene–environment interaction, lifestyle, type 2 diabetes