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Avoiding prolonged sitting reduces cardiometabolic risk markers
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In adults with type 2 diabetes, breaking up prolonged sitting with light-intensity walking or simple resistance activities weakens acute postprandial glucose, insulin, C-peptide and triglyceride responses, according to study results.
Light-intensity walking or resistance activities may be beneficial and practical in adults with poor adherence to structured exercise, the researchers wrote.
Paddy C. Dempsey, BPhEd, MPhEd, of Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues evaluated 24 inactive adults (14 men; mean age, 62 years) with overweight or obesity and type 2 diabetes to determine whether interrupting prolonged sitting with brief bouts of light-intensity walking or simple resistance activity can improve postprandial cardiometabolic risk markers.
All participants underwent three different conditions on 3 different days for 8 hours: uninterrupted sitting (control), sitting plus 3-minute bouts of light-intensity walking every half-hour, and sitting plus 3-minute bouts of simple resistance activities every half-hour.
Compared with the control period, the net 7-hour incremental areas under the curve (iAUC) were attenuated for glucose, insulin and C-peptide during both activity conditions (P < .001). Compared with the control period, the iAUC for triglycerides was attenuated during the simple resistance training condition (P < .001) but not the light-intensity walking condition. The only difference that was significant between the two activity conditions was for triglycerides (P = .048).
Researchers observed a significant sex-by-condition interaction between the two conditions. Compared with the sitting condition, the magnitude of glucose attenuation for light-intensity walking was greater in women than men. A similar trend was found for the control condition compared with the simple resistance activity condition, but it did not reach significance.
“Interrupting prolonged sitting with brief [light-intensity walking] or [simple resistance activity] bouts significantly attenuates postprandial glucose, insulin, C-peptide and triglyceride responses in adults with [type 2 diabetes],” the researchers wrote. “With the ubiquity of sedentary behaviors and the low adherence to structured exercise, these two approaches are practical strategies that may contribute toward reducing the risk of diabetes complications and cardiovascular complications.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Perspective
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Bethany Barone Gibbs, PhD, FAHA
This study is a more elegant work out of the Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute group in Australia that gives great insight into a novel prescription of physical activity “micro bouts” to break up prolonged sitting and improve health — this time for patients with type 2 diabetes. Most patients with type 2 diabetes do not exercise at recommended levels, and this can be due to a lack of time or a lack of knowledge or skills. The lack of exercise in these patients is a missed opportunity because exercise has so many health benefits, especially for controlling blood sugar. These very short micro bouts of exercise can address both the time and knowledge barriers and offer a potential alternative to the current exercise recommendation for type 2 diabetes, which is 30 minutes, 5 days a week. Another great finding from this research is that strength training exercises (like squats) or short walks were both effective, giving more flexibility in this potential strategy. Future research studying whether prescribing such micro bout exercise results in good adherence to exercise and improves health outcomes, such as HbA1c and vascular function, over longer periods in patients with type 2 diabetes will be important to understand whether this is a good alternative exercise prescription.
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