(NewsUSA) – You can’t blame it on your parents anymore.

A new study by the Harvard School of Public Health makes clear that your genes “take a back seat” to behavioral and lifestyle factors when it comes to developing Type 2 diabetes, and that ? where men are concerned ? lifting weights for just 30 minutes a day, five times a week, can cut your risk by as much as 34 percent. Make that as much as 59 percent when weights are combined with aerobic exercise.

Women, too, can benefit from a healthier lifestyle. Separate data suggest that 90 percent of Type 2 diabetes in females can be attributed to things like excess weight, smoking and alcohol use.

“Clearly, this is a preventable disease, and sadly about 6 million of the more than 24 million American diabetics don’t even know they have it,” says the Foundation for Chiropractic Progress’ Gerard W. Clum, DC. Aside from treating any aches and pains from all that exercising, today’s chiropractors counsel patients on ways to improve their health.

Learn more at www.yes2chiropractic.org.