A new survey reveals that most people prefer to treat diabetes by changing their diets, rather than using medicines.

According to a survey of 1,022 adults (515 women and 507 men), 69% of Americans would prefer to try a dietary approach, whereas only 21% preferred treating diabetes with medicines. The survey reinforces results from clinical research on diabetes, which has consistently found that people with diabetes adapt well to low-fat vegetarian diets and gain important health benefits. A dietary approach to diabetes based on scientific research shows that a low-fat vegan diet can lower high blood sugar levels three times more effectively than oral medications.

Among the results: women are even more likely than men to prefer food changes over pills. People with more education and higher incomes were especially likely to favor a diet approach. For the financially savvy - this makes a lot of sense. You MUST buy food. You might as well buy healthier foods and curtail your Rx costs. Furthermore, Americans aged 45 to 64 were more enthusiastic about diet changes, compared with older Americans. I'll bet it's the convenience factor. A little less medication, a little more supper, please. The most pill-happy generation was the 18- to 24-year-olds. Don't look at me like that - I'm 28 and favor the flavor over medication, any day. Bon appetit!

Being wide around the waistline doesn't just make your pants uncomfortable. It actually increases your risk for Type 2 diabetes. Studies have shown a relationship between Type 2 diabetes risk and waist-to-hip ratio, which measures abdominal obesity. That's opposed to the more commonly used body mass index (BMI), which measures the overall fat being carried on the body. Diabetes experts want to spread the word that you reeaally don't want a waist-to-hip ratio that's higher than the recommended 31.5 inches for women and 37 inches for men (or the recommended 35 inches for South Asian men). Storing all that tummy fat, they say, ups your risk for health complaints like diabetes and heart disease.

But wait: there's a silver lining! Exercise can help reduce this risk. That's according to researchers working in Helsinki, Finland, who published the results of their work in Diabetic Medicine. Here's the word from Katja Borodulin, who headed up the Finnish study: "People who were obese [according to the waist-to-hip ratio] were more likely to be diagnosed with glucose intolerance and Type 2 diabetes but if they were physically active their risk was significantly lower." They researchers define "active" as the standard thirty minutes of exercise at least five days a week.