Light-Intensity Physical Activity Improves Glucose Control

Light-intensity physical activity can benefit glucose control, a recent Diabetes Care study suggests.

Researchers studied the effects of physical activity in 67 men and 106 women without diagnosed diabetes. They performed blood tests to measure fasting blood glucose levels and oral glucose tolerance. They also measured physical activity with accelerometers for 7 days, and grouped the resulting activity levels into three categories: sedentary; light intensity; and moderate to vigorous intensity.

When other potentially confounding effects, such as waist size, were controlled for, a sedentary level of physical activity was positively associated with higher 2-hour plasma glucose levels. All intensity levels of physical activity were associated with lower 2-hour plasma glucose levels.

“These data provide the first objective evidence that light-intensity physical activity is beneficially associated with blood glucose and that sedentary time is unfavorably associated with blood glucose,” the group concludes. “Substituting light-intensity physical activity for television viewing or other sedentary activities may be a practical and achievable prevention strategy to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk.”