Get Moving! Prevent Diabetes By Engaging In Physical Activity

The more you keep your body moving, the better and longer you are likely to live. At least 150 minutes a week of moderate physical activity — an average of only about 20 minutes a day — will go a long way toward keeping you healthy and lowering your risk of heart disease, diabetes and various other life-shortening conditions.

That’s the bottom line of new guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for individuals over age 6. In addition to diabetes and heart disease, exercise also reduces the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, colon and breast cancer, and early death. Regular exercise helps prevent falls, insomnia and depression and also improves cognitive function and a sense of well-being.

The research findings conclude:

_ The more you do and the longer you do it, the greater the benefits.
_ Exercise is an equal-opportunity benefit, regardless of age, ethnicity, sex or disability.
_ The benefits of physical exercise far outweigh the risks.

For children, HHS recommends at least an hour a day of moderate to vigorous exercise, with an emphasis on having fun. The exercise should focus on strengthening muscles and bones. For older adults, the guidelines stress that some exercise is better than none if a chronic condition prevents 150 minutes a week. The focus should be on activities that improve balance.

The report also says that it takes only half the time — 75 minutes a week — of vigorous physical activity to achieve the same benefits. Moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity includes such things as walking briskly, water aerobics, ballroom dancing and general gardening. Vigorous-intensity aerobic activities include racewalking, jogging or running, swimming laps, jumping rope and hiking uphill or with a heavy backpack.

By: Scott Saxon

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Scott Saxon is a Exercise Physiologist at the Diabetes Care Center, Baptist Hospital. Baptist Health South Florida is the largest faith-based, not-for-profit health care organization in the region, with an outstanding reputation for medical and service excellence.