Walking more lowers your risk of diabetes.
This comes from a just released study by Australian rearchers who studied nearly 600 middle-aged adults. The adults participated in a study to map diabetes levels across Australia between 2000 and 2005.
Diabetes is a major health condition increasingly affecting aging adults according to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI). “Diabetes is one of the conditions that can cause many to need long-term care,” states Jesse Slome, AALTCI executive director. “It is also one of the conditions that can make it harder to get this insurance coverage.”
Participants underwent a health examination at the start of the study and provided details about their eating and lifestyle habits. The volunteers were also given a pedometer and instructed how to use it.
Follow-up with the participants five years later showed that a higher daily step count was associated with a lower body-mass index (BMI), lower waist-to-hip ratio and better insulin sensitivity, even after adjusting for factors such as diet, smoking and alcohol intake.
They calculated that a sedentary person who changed his or her behavior and started walking 10,000 steps every day would achieve a threefold improvement in insulin sensitivity, compared with a similar person who walked 3,000 steps a day, five days a week.
The 10,000 steps per day is a popular guideline, but a more recent recommendation is 3,000 steps per day, five days a week.
The findings confirm an independent beneficial role of higher daily step count on body-mass index, waist-to-hip ratio and insulin sensitivity, provide further support to promote higher physical activity levels among middle-aged adults. The study appears in the online edition of the British Medical Journal.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROTECTION. Get a free, no obligation quote for Long-Term Care Insurance from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. Click here now!
INSURANCE AGENTS. SELL MORE LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE PROTECTION. Visit the Association's Online LTC Learning, Marketing & Sales Center. Click here now!
HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT CRITICAL ILLNESS INSURANCE? Learn more from the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. Click here now!
MEDICARE SUPPLEMENT INSURANCE COSTS
Click here to learn more!