Building a healthier Britain. Part One, Diabetes.

Since the 1950s doctors have continuously researched people's health and lifestyle. In the first of a four-part series, Richard Hannaford examines the results of these epidemiological studies. This first part focuses on our growing understanding of diabetes. Early research in the 1990s suggested that babies born with a lower birth weight were at increased risk of developing diabetes in later life. This work has now moved on to show that the weight you put on after birth is more crucial. How effective is physical exercise on the rate of developing diabetes, and how much exercise should you do in order to protect yourself? Hannaford follows the population studies that have found the answers to these and other questions about the emergence of this condition.