Researchers at Drexel University in Philadelphia studied more than 2000 adults among communities in Maryland, New York and North Carolina between 2000 and 2002. Participants were given a medical exam four times during the study.
Researchers also surveyed them about their neighborhoods and their access to food shopping.
What they found was that people in communities that offered areas for physical activity and outlets with healthy food were 38 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes in five years.
On the flip side, people who lived in neighborhoods that had fast food outlets and lacked parks or walking trails were far less healthy.
The findings indicate that city planning may play an important role in the fight against obesity. And, as one of the study authors noted, simply changing our environment can have a big effect on our health. Video plays below.
