People who walk a lot have lower diabetes risk: Study
(REUTERS) - Among people at high risk for diabetes who get very little exercise, those who manage to walk more throughout the day are less likely to actually develop the blood sugar disorder, according to a United States (US) study.
Earlier studies have shown that walking more is tied to a lower risk of diabetes, but few studies have looked into precise measures of how many steps people take each day, said Ms Amanda Fretts, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle.
'Our finding wasn't surprising given that other studies have shown that even light activity is associated with a lower risk of diabetes,' Ms Fretts wrote in an email to Reuters Health.
To get a better sense of the potential benefits of walking, Ms Fretts and her colleagues asked more than 1,800 people to wear a pedometer for a week to tally the number of steps they typically took each day.
Among people at high risk for diabetes who get very little exercise, those who manage to walk more throughout the day are less likely to actually develop the blood sugar disorder, according to a United States study.
Earlier studies have shown that walking more is tied to a lower risk of diabetes, but few studies have looked into precise measures of how many steps people take each day, said Ms Amanda Fretts, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Washington in Seattle.
'Our finding wasn't surprising given that other studies have shown that even light activity is associated with a lower risk of diabetes,' Ms Fretts wrote in an email to Reuters Health.
To get a better sense of the potential benefits of walking, Ms Fretts and her colleagues asked more than 1,800 people to wear a pedometer for a week to tally the number of steps they typically took each day.