A new study has provided further understanding into the link between physical activity and type 2 diabetes using wearable fitness devices.
Between 90 and 95 percent of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes, which is when the body cannot use insulin sufficiently to provide cells with glucose.
It frequently develops in people over 45-years-old, however, more children and young adults are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Andrew S. Perry, M.D., of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, explained: “We investigated the relationship between physical activity and type 2 diabetes with an innovative approach using data from wearable devices linked to electronic health records in a real-world population.
“We found that people who spent more time in any type of physical activity had a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Our data shows the importance of moving your body every day to lower your risk of diabetes.”
The study involved using data from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program to examine Fitbit data and the rates of Type 2 diabetes from 5,677 individuals, 75 per cent of which were female.
Researchers discovered that there were 97 new cases of diabetes diagnosed during a 4-year follow-up. They also found that those who reached a step count of 10,700 per day were 44 per cent less likely to develop diabetes compared to those reaching 6,000 steps per day.
Dr Perry added: “We hope to study more diverse populations in future studies to confirm the generalizability of these findings.”
NIH provided funding to the study, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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