A recent study indicates that inactivity predisposes adults into developing diabetes, even those who are able to maintain a healthy weight. Researchers from the University of Florida found out that plenty of people who appear healthy or those who belong to the healthy weight range can also suffer from problems relating to their blood sugar levels.
According to Arch Mainous III, chair of health services research, management, and policy at the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions and lead author of the said study, “We have found that a lot of people who we would consider to be at healthy weight — they’re not overweight or obese — are not metabolically healthy.”
Mainous and his colleagues analyzed health data coming from 1,000 people age 20 and above residing in England. All the people studied fall within the healthy weight range with no diagnosis of diabetes. Those who followed an inactive lifestyle were found to have a blood sugar of 5.7 and above, levels of which is considered as pre-diabetes by the American Diabetes Association. Around a quarter of all inactive people and more than 40 percent of those aged 45 and above met the criteria for pre-diabetes.
The study does not establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship on inactivity and diabetes risk. But researchers suggest that these inactive people may be having a normal-weight obesity or a high proportion of fat to their lean muscle, even in what may be considered as a normal weight range. Because pre-diabetes increases the risk of diabetes as well as other health problems, the study adds into the growing threat of inactivity to health.
Mainous further added, “Our findings suggest that sedentary lifestyle is overlooked when we think in terms of healthy weight. We shouldn’t focus only on calorie intake, weight or BMI at the expense of activity.”
Source: Health Day
Tags: Diabetes News, diabetes risk, healthy weight, inactivity and diabetes