Newswise — Individuals with obesity and type 2 diabetes have lower physical activity (PA) levels than the general population. Given the known health benefits of PA, it is important that lifestyle treatment programs for this population produce significant long-term improvements in PA. This study used a waist-worn tracking device to assess PA levels among 2400 older adults with type 2 diabetes over four years. Participants who were randomly assigned to the lifestyle treatment group were over two times as likely to achieve the study PA goal of at least 175 minutes/week. In addition, they were 1.5 times more likely to maintain this level of PA after four years, compared to those assigned to a basic diabetes education group. Yet, not all participants met the PA goal and some performed very little PA after four years. So, lifestyle programs may need to better address barriers to maintaining PA so that this behavior becomes a life-long habit.

For more information about this research, view the abstract or contact the investigators.