According to a new study, a variety of lifestyle factors may independently affect an individual’s chance of developing Type 2 diabetes. Such risk factors include diet, exercise, weight, and alcohol and tobacco use.

The researchers found that individuals were less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes if they had healthy lifestyles overall, even if they had family histories of diabetes or were overweight. In addition, each positive lifestyle choice reduced their chances of developing the disease.

“There are implications certainly for individuals to take one step at a time toward a healthy lifestyle,” said Jared Reis with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, located in Bethesda, Maryland, and an author on the study. “There is certainly benefit for those who may have a tough time with losing weight if they adopt these other healthy lifestyle factors” such as getting more exercise, eating a healthier diet, and eliminating smoking and alcohol.

The study analyzed data from over 200,000 Americans; the data was collected through surveys that the participants filled out themselves and it asked questions about their health in the years 1995 and 1996. At that time, most of the participants were older aged, in their 50s or 60s; however, none had diabetes at the start of the study.

The researchers followed up with those participants ten years later, asking whether they had developed diabetes since the first survey. On average, one in 10 men and one in 13 women had developed Type 2 diabetes since the beginning of the study.

Researchers then looked back at the data collected during the first survey, breaking down the questions according to five categories: body mass index (BMI), exercise, diet, and the use of alcohol and tobacco. According to the results, each healthy behavior that appeared on the survey, such as getting regular exercise or stopping smoking, reduced the participant’s risk of developing diabetes, even when accompanied by other unhealthy lifestyle choices.

As such, a participant who ate a well-rounded diet and avoided unhealthy fats and low-quality refined grains had a lower risk of developing diabetes even if he or she exercised little, smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol regularly.

The results proved consistent even among those who had a family history of diabetes, which put them at a higher risk overall.

The study found that normal weight women who answered positively to adopting healthy lifestyle choices, such as eating healthy, getting regular exercise, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco were 84% less likely to develop diabetes than overweight women who engaged in the opposite unhealthy activities. Similarly, men who made healthy choices were 72% less likely to develop diabetes compared with their less healthy peers.

Although the data pointed to the fact that healthy choices could counteract the risk of developing diabetes, the researchers noted that weight was still the most important determining factor in the development of diabetes.

“While the message is that all these things matter… the number one top-of-the-list take-home is, don’t be overweight in the first place,” said Dr. Lawrence Phillips, an endocrinologist at Emory University in Atlanta. “It’s important not to confuse the baby with the bathwater here,” added Phillips, who was not involved with the study.

While the study is encouraging in its predictions that healthy choices reduce the risk of diabetes, it cannot prove definitively that removing alcohol, tobacco or saturated fats can reduce any one individual’s risk of developing the disease.