Walking Around may Help Prevent Diabetes in High-Risk Individuals

A new study conducted by researchers at University of Leicester suggests that people who have a high risk of developing type II diabetes should move around often instead of sitting in one place for long periods of time. The researchers analyzed data from two different studies involving over 870 people and calculated to what extent was the cardiovascular and metabolic health affected by sedentary time, breaks in sedentary time, moderate to vigorous activity and the total amount of physical activity.

The researchers found that sitting for prolonged periods of time had a bigger impact on fat deposits, blood sugar levels and bad cholesterol (LDL) compared to not exercising at all.

“This research should hopefully encourage individuals to think about the balance of sedentary time and activity in all aspects of their day. For example, an office worker who jogs or bikes to and from work for 30 minutes (therefore meeting the national recommended levels of physical activity), still has a large portion of the day (after sitting at a desk all day and watching TV in the evening) to engage in sedentary pursuits and may need to start thinking about what to do with the remaining hours of the day in order to reduce their sedentary time”, lead researcher Joseph Henson said.

Source-Medindia