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Regular physical exercise can lead to massive reductions in type-2 diabetes risk according to a number of scientific studies.

One of the largest studies on the impact of exercise on type-2 diabetes risk was conducted in 1992 by researchers from the Department of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. The researchers used data from the Physicians’ Health Study which involved 21,2171 male physicians from the United States aged between 40 and 84 who were followed for five years.

During the course of the study, 285 of the participants were diagnosed with type-2 diabetes. The researchers found that those who exercised more than once a week were 36% less likely to develop type-2 diabetes than those who exercised less than once a week. Furthermore, the incidence of type-2 diabetes continued to decrease with increasing levels of exercise. Compared to those who exercised less than once a week, there was a 23% reduction in type-2 diabetes in those who exercised one to two times a week, a 38% reduction for those exercising between two and four times a week, and a 42% reduction for those who exercised at least five times each week.

It is believed that exercise helps reduce diabetes risk in two ways. First exercise is known to reduce body weight and in particular body fat levels. High body levels of body fat, especially around the abdominal area, is an established risk factor for type-2 diabetes. Secondly, sustained physical activity leads to improvements in insulin sensitivity meaning the body needs less insulin in order to control blood sugar levels.

The study appears in the appears in the July 1, 1992 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.