Physical Activity and Diabetes

The Diabetes Prevention Program demonstrated that persons with PreDiabetes (blood glucose above 100 mg/dl) delayed the onset of type 2 diabetes by walking at least 150 minutes/week to lose 5-7% of body weight.  Both exercise and weight loss reduce insulin resistance, a core defect leading to the development of type 2 diabetes.

The National Weight Control Registry supports that overweight individuals who exercise 4-6 hrs weekly maintain a mean weight loss of more than 60 lbs for an average of 6 years. It appears that the more physical activity we engage in the more calories we burn and the more weight we can lose---if we control food intake! 

Preventing weight gain is on everyone's agenda particularly in our nation's youth.  Several studies suggest that children are not engaged in enough daily physical activity to balance their food intake.  A recent Archives of Pediatric Medicine article provided more support for TV watching as contributing to overweight in kids.  When children watched less than 2 hours of TV nightly, 1 in 4  were overweight, in contrast, in children who watched  2 hrs or more/night, 1 of 2 were overweight.  

Finding the time to exercise is the number one reason why most of us do not.  The good news is we know that 3 or 4, 10-minute exercise bouts daily can be just as beneficial and easier to do than a full 30-40 minute bout of physical activity.  A walk before breakfast, after lunch or before jumping in your car can add up.

In 2001 the US Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher and the former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, collaborated to tackle obesity in America by founding the Shape Up America program.  Part of that program is the 10,000 Steps/day program utilizing a pedometer to help you walk 10,000 steps daily or the equivalent of about 5 miles/day.

Visit the Shape Up America Link below to receive guidance as to how to start your own 10,000 step/day program

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