Walking Compared With Vigorous Physical Activity and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Strong epidemiologic evidence suggests that physical activity is associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. In cross-sectional and ecological studies, higher levels of physical activity are associated with lower prevalence of type 2 diabetes.1,2 Populations who migrate to westernized countries with more sedentary lifestyles have greater risks of type 2 diabetes than their counterparts who remain in their native countries.2 Populations undergoing westernization in the absence of migration, such as North American Indians3 and Western Samoans,4,5 also have experienced increases in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Such studies must be interpreted with caution, however. In cross-sectional studies, it is difficult to establish cause and effect, and in the studies of migrant or westernizing populations, many other factors in addition to physical activity undergo change, including modifications in diet and other lifestyle factors.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: