In denial? Younger women with diabetes aren't following guidelines for eye exams and other preventive measures.

RODALE NEWS, EMMAUS, PA—Younger women (under age 45) who are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are more likely than older women to ignore recommendations to keep the condition under control, according to a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report recently published in the Journal of Women’s Health. Women with diabetes are also more prone to skip other basic health procedures, such as PAP smears, than women without diabetes.

THE DETAILS: CDC researchers looked at data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, and the National Health Interview Survey to see if women diagnosed with diabetes follow recommended preventative care to avoid complications or early death, including blood tests and eye and foot examinations. Less educated younger women were most likely to ignore the recommendations.

WHAT IT MEANS: In the next 40 years, CDC researchers believe women will account for the majority of type 2 diabetes cases. Not keeping diabetes in check increases a women’s odds of developing breast, uterine, and colorectal cancers. For anyone with diabetes, following your doctor’s recommendations for screenings and exams is an important component of managing the disease. But there are many other strategies that anyone with diabetes—man or woman—should follow to stay healthy.

Use these tips to manage your diabetes:

• Trim your waist. Use your waist-to-hip ratio to assess your health risk. Measure your waist in inches around the belly button and divide that number by your hip measurement. A number higher than 0.9 means slim down.

• Know your numbers. Don’t eat too much, or not enough: Shoot for between 1,400 and 1,600 calories a day as a general rule of thumb. Staying in that range will help most people lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. Men shouldn’t dip below 1,500 calories a day and women need to get at least 1,200 daily. Search for meals and snacks suitable for diabetics at Rodale’s Recipe Finder.

• Get that heart a-thumpin’. Exercise acts like medicine because it lowers blood sugar as muscles turn glucose into energy. According to the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), obese people with type 2 diabetes who exercise regularly achieve better glucose control. What's more, studies find that increased physical activity, including walking, can reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke, and other complications in people with diabetes.

You should check your blood glucose immediately before and after exercise. There will be individual variations, but on average there is a one- to two-point drop in blood sugar for every minute you exercise.