A new study finds that numerous lifestyle factors affect older adults' risk of diabetes. US researchers analyzed the link between incidence of diabetes and lifestyle over 10 years in 4,883 men and women aged 65 and older. The lifestyle factors observed included dietary habits, physical activity, tobacco and alcohol use, and amount of body fat. The study authors found that each of these lifestyle factors were independently associated with incidence of diabetes. Overall, each positive score in a lifestyle factor was associated with a 35 percent lower risk of diabetes among those with a low-risk lifestyle. People with good physical activity and dietary habits had a 46 percent lower incidence of diabetes. People who are classified as low-risk based on their physical activity, smoking habits, dietary habits and alcohol consumption had an 82 percent lower incidence of diabetes. Not having those four low-risk lifestyle habits appeared to be associated with 80 percent of new cases of diabetes. People who had those four low-risk lifestyle habits and also weren't overweight or didn't have a large waist circumference were 89 percent less likely to develop diabetes.