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Sinead Butler

Professor receives online backlash for claim on diabetes risk increase if you don’t fit into clothes you wore at 21

A university professor is receiving backlash on Twitter after his comments regarding his claims on what increases the risk of developing diabetes.

Professor Roy Taylor, director of Newcastle University’s Magnetic Resonance Centre, has come under fire for saying that people should be able to fit in the clothes they wore when they were 21 years-old in order to reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Speaking at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes to present his latest studies he gave his brutal remarks:

“As a rule of thumb, your waist size should be the same now as when you were 21.

“If you can’t get into the same size trousers now, you are carrying too much fat and therefore at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even if you aren’t overweight,” he explained.

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As part of the study, the 12 participants - who had an average BMI of 24.5 - were required consume a low calorie liquid (800 calories per day) diet of soups and shakes for two weeks and then received support to maintain their weight loss for four to six weeks, The Guardian reported.

They did this on three occasions until participants lost 10-15 per cent of their body weight.

Results show eight out of the 12 managed to get their type 2 diabetes into remission and didn’t require medication anymore.

However, his comments regard fitting into clothes each of us wore as a 21-year-old has rubbed many people up the wrong way and they have shared their outrage online.

A number of people have recalled what they were doing at the age of 21, and they wouldn’t say they lived a healthy lifestyle back then.

Other people also noted how bodies changed throughout our lives which can mean that we won’t fit into the clothes were wore at 21 - and that’s completely normal.

Elsewhere some people recall having an eating disorder at that age, and slammed Taylor’s comments in response for being triggering and insensitive.

While others pointed out that clothes aren’t exactly the best tool for measuring our health as trends comes and go - and for many that meant wearing some extremely baggy or low cut jeans as a 21-year-old.

According to his study, people of healthy weight and who have type 2 diabetes can reverse the condition by losing between 10 and 15 per cent of their body weight.

“Doctors tend to assume that type 2 diabetes has a different cause in those who aren’t overweight,” Professor Taylor added.

“This means that, unlike those who are overweight, those who are of normal weight aren’t usually advised to lose weight before being given diabetes drugs and insulin.

He continued: “Instead, there’s a tendency to start them on insulin and other medication at a much earlier stage.

“What we’ve shown is that if those of normal weight lose 10-15 per cent of their weight, they have a very good chance of getting rid of their diabetes.”

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