Active Living

Physical activity is one of the most significant factors in maintaining a good quality of life so keeping active is an important part of your lifestyle and people with diabetes are encouraged to exercise regularly.

Even a little extra activity can have a lot of benefits, these include;

• More energy
• Improved sleep at night
• Increased strength/ greater stamina
• Lower risk of heart disease and stroke
• Reduces depression
• Healthier bones
• Helps weight control

Specific benefits for diabetes

• Improves blood glucose control (HbA1c)
• Reduces heart disease/ stroke by 35 – 50%
• Improves blood cholesterol levels
• Reduces blood pressure

How much activity is recommended and what type?

The type, level and duration of physical activity that you undertake as a diabetic will depend on what is suitable for you, something you should agree with your doctor or healthcare team.

The Chief Medical Officer recommends;

• Adults should aim to be active daily. Over a week, activity should add up to at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity in bouts of 10 minutes or more - one way to approach this is to do 30 minutes on at least 5 days a week
• Alternatively, comparable benefits can be achieved through 75 minutes of vigorous activity spread across the week or combinations of moderate and vigorous intensity activity
• Adults should also undertake physical activity to improve muscle strength on at least two days a week
• All adults should minimise the amount of time spent being sedentary for extended periods

*Individual physical and mental capabilities should be considered when interpreting the guidelines

For more information: Start Active, Stay Active: A report on physical activity for health from the four home countries, Chief Medical Officer (2011)

There are numerous types of activity to take part in but the key is to try to find something that you enjoy doing. Examples include; walking, cycling, aerobics, dance, yoga and gym based work outs