2.4.0.0 Phys­i­cal Ac­tiv­i­ty

Just as 150 min/‍week of mod­er­ate-‍in­ten­si­ty phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty, such as brisk walk­ing, showed beneficial ef­fects in those with predi­a­betes (1), mod­er­ate-‍in­ten­si­ty phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty has been shown to im­prove in­sulin sen­si­tiv­i­ty and re­duce ab­dom­i­nal fat in chil­dren and young adults (22,23). On the basis of these find­ings, pro­viders are en­cour­aged to pro­mote a DPP-‍style pro­gram, in­clud­ing its focus on phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ty, to all in­di­vid­u­als who have been iden­tified to be at an in­creased risk of type 2 di­a­betes. In ad­di­tion to aer­o­bic ac­tiv­i­ty, an ex­er­cise reg­i­men de­signed to pre­vent di­a­betes may in­clude re­sis­tance train­ing (6,24). Break­ing up pro­longed seden­tary time may also be en­cour­aged, as it is as­so­ci­at­ed with mod­er­ate­ly lower post­pran­di­al glu­cose lev­els (25,26). The pre­ventive ef­fects of ex­er­cise ap­pear to ex­tend to the pre­ven­tion of ges­ta­tion­al di­a­betes mel­li­tus (GDM) (27).