Energy balance
Engaging in 11.25 MET hours per week of leisure-time physical activity (equivalent to 150 minutes/week of moderate activity) reduces the risk of incident type 2 diabetes by 26% compared to being completely inactive.
Aim for 150 minutes of moderate activity per week (like brisk walking) to cut your diabetes risk by roughly a quarter compared to being inactive. You don't need to do extreme amounts of exercise to get the main benefit, but doing more than 150 minutes will give you even greater protection.
Results from the cubic spline model suggest that individuals who accumulate 11.25 MET h/week (equivalent to meeting the recommended guidelines of 150 min/week of activity at 4.5 MET) have a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes equal to 26% (95% CI 20%, 31%) relative to completely inactive individuals.
Why this rating
Systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of 28 prospective cohort studies involving over 1.2 million individuals.
Source
Physical activity and incident type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies
Andrea Smith et al. · Diabetologia · 2016
DOI 10.1007/s00125-016-4079-0
More from this paper
- Doubling the recommended physical activity dose (22.5 MET h/week) reduces type 2 diabetes risk by 36%, and high doses (60 MET h/week) reduce it by 53%, showing no plateau in benefits.Strong
- Vigorous physical activity (VPA) provides significantly larger risk reductions for type 2 diabetes per unit of energy expenditure (MET h/week) compared to moderate or low-intensity activity.Good
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