Exercising in polluted areas is a safe way to prevent type 2 diabetes

Regular physical activity is a safe diabetes prevention strategy for people residing in relatively polluted regions, researchers have determined.

The study, which is the first to investigate the combined effects of exercise and exposure to pollution on the risk of type 2 diabetes, was led by teams in Hong Kong and the Netherlands.

Previous research has suggested that air pollution is a novel risk factor for the development of type 2 diabetes. Physical activity increases the inhalation of air pollutants, which may exacerbate the adverse health effects of air pollution.

There is limited information on the combined associations of air pollution and habitual physical activity with the development of type 2 diabetes, which is why the relationship between the two has become an important public concern.

This study involved investigating the combined associations of exercise and exposure to ambient particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 μm with the incidence of type 2 diabetes.

Health data from a total of 156,314 adults, who had undergone a total of 422,831 medical examinations in Taiwan, where the annual PM2.5 concentration is around 2.6 times higher than the WHO recommended limit were used.

Diabetes diagnoses were identified from medical examinations, while two-year mean PM2.5 exposure was estimated at each participant’s address using a satellite-based model. Information on physical activity and a wide range of other variables was collected using a standard self-administered questionnaire.

Compared with high physical activity, moderate (by 31%) and inactive/low physical activity (by 56%) were associated with a higher risk of diabetes. Participants with moderate (by 31%) and high (by 94%) PM2.5 had a higher risk of type 2 diabetes than the participants exposed to low PM2.5. The participants with high physical activity and low PM2.5 had a 64% lower risk of type 2 diabetes than those with inactive/low physical activity and high PM2.5.

The authors said: “We found that high levels of habitual physical activity combined with low levels of chronic PM2.5 exposure were associated with a lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, whereas low levels of habitual physical activity combined with high levels of chronic PM2.5 exposure were associated with a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.”

They added that “the benefits of habitual physical activity on type 2 diabetes remained stable in participants with different levels of PM2.5 exposure.”

To read the study, click here.

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