(Food-Beverage-News.Com, August 20, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA -- New research at the School of Nutrition (Harvard School of Public Health) has found that weight training can reduce the risk of type II diabetes in men by up to 34%. The study was lead by a visiting researcher named Anders Grontved, and the research was aimed at finding alternatives to aerobic exercise for people at risk of type II diabetes. Some people who are at risk of becoming diabetic cannot do aerobic exercise because of physical limitations, and the findings of this study provide an alternative exercise to assist these people in cutting their risk for adult onset diabetes.
The study time frame was 18 years, from 1990 to 2008, and involved tracking the health and exercise behavior of over 30,000 men. These men filled out questionnaires every 2 years as part of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. During the 18 years of the study, 2278 new cases of diabetes were reported among the men being followed.
The reduction in adult onset diabetes risk is related directly to the amount of time spent doing weight lifting exercises. The categories were as follows: no weight training at all, between 1 and 59 minutes per week, between 60 and 149 minutes per week, and over 150 minutes per week. Reductions in risk were found to be 12% for the 1-59 minutes per week group, 25% for the 60-149 minutes per week group, and 34% for the 150+ minutes per week group as compared to those men who did no weight training at all.
Men who did both weight training and aerobic exercise (such as brisk walking, bicycling, or running) for over 150 minutes per week reduced their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 59%.
This study may be helpful in preventing diabetes in states that already have a high percentage of type 2 diabetics (for example, Alabama’s population has 12.2% occurrence of diabetes). The finding of this research may provide other options for those who are too obese or sedentary to engage in aerobic exercise.
