College graduates use exercise effectively to prevent, manage diabetes

In a study, set to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, it appears that Americans who did not graduate from college are having a harder time with physical activity and a healthy diet to manage their diabetes.

“Essentially those with a college degree or more education are benefitting more from the positive health behavior of physical activity than other groups,” Kyle Chapman, a University of Kansas doctoral candidate in sociology, said in the release. “That’s going to create more inequality in the future.”

In the study, following adjustment for diet, BMI and social factors, Chapman found that adults with a college degree who were also physically active had a 6% less chance of prediabetes symptoms or elevated blood glucose levels compared with college-educated adults who were not physically active. There was a 1% less chance of prediabetes symptoms among physically active adults who did not graduate from college.

“What we see here are these big differences in those at risk for diabetes,” Chapman said.

Adults with a college degree who were physically active had a 2.5% risk for full-blown diabetes, and a 4.4% risk was found for adults with a college degree who weren’t active compared with a 5% risk for adults without a high school diploma who were active and a 7.2% risk among those who weren’t active.

“This is real, and if we continue down this road, we’re going to be helping the college educated more than we’re helping the less educated,” he said. “The less educated are the people who actually need it more.”