Higher Physical Activity Levels Linked to Lower Type 2 Diabetes Risk, with Significant Benefits for Older Adults

New research presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan indicates that maintaining higher levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is significantly linked to a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The study highlights that while relative risk reductions are often more pronounced in younger populations, the higher baseline incidence of the condition among older adults means that public health initiatives promoting physical activity could prevent a greater absolute number of cases in older demographics.

Led by investigators at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, the investigation analyzed data from 87,975 adult participants in the UK Biobank study who did not have a prior history of diabetes. Over a median follow-up period of nearly eight years, researchers tracked participants’ exercise habits using wrist-worn accelerometers. The average age of the cohort was 63 years, with 57 percent female participants and 97 percent identifying as white.

To measure activity objectively, participants wore the monitoring devices for seven consecutive days. Researchers categorized exercise volume into lower and higher groups based on weekly moderate-to-vigorous physical activity minutes relative to age brackets. The findings demonstrated that adults under the age of 63 in the lower-activity group—logging a median of 121 minutes per week—faced more than double the relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those in the higher-activity group, who maintained a median of 409 minutes weekly. Among participants aged 63 and older, lower physical activity levels were associated with a 65 percent higher relative risk.

Understanding Relative Versus Absolute Risk in Exercise

Dr. Diana van Heemst, who led the research at Leiden University Medical Centre, emphasized that all adults should be encouraged to stay as active as possible, as increased movement correlates directly with a lowered likelihood of developing the condition. However, Dr. van Heemst noted that population-level impacts reveal distinct patterns when examining absolute versus relative metrics.

Co-author Qiuyu Feng pointed out that relative risk alone fails to capture the true public health impact across different groups. Because older adults carry a higher overall baseline risk of developing type 2 diabetes, encouraging increased physical activity in this demographic yields a substantial absolute reduction in new diagnoses. When breaking down the data into five-year age intervals, the researchers observed that the absolute difference in disease incidence rates increased steeply with age, particularly among men.

The Influence of Timing and Metabolic Health

The investigation also evaluated whether the timing of physical activity influenced health outcomes. Participants who completed the majority of their moderate-to-vigorous exercise later in the day—defined as between 1:00 p.m. and midnight—experienced a modest 10 percent lower relative risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who exercised exclusively between 5:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. This timing association was more pronounced among younger adults, who saw a 23 percent lower risk with later-day exercise, whereas older adults showed only a four percent difference.

Furthermore, underlying metabolic factors modified the relationship between movement and disease development. The protective association of higher physical activity was stronger among individuals without prediabetes compared to those who already had prediabetes. Current public health recommendations generally advise adults to accumulate at least 150 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity weekly—such as brisk walking, cycling, or running—though study authors noted that physiological responses and metabolic needs vary by age, sex, and health status.

Study Limitations and Next Steps

The research team acknowledged certain limitations within their work. Participants in the UK Biobank are recognized as generally healthier, wealthier, and more educated than the general population, meaning the cohort may not fully represent broader public demographics. Additionally, prediabetes status was recorded several years prior to accelerometer measurements and could have shifted over time.

Despite these constraints, the findings reinforce the critical role of regular physical activity in preventive medicine and metabolic health. Experts stress that encouraging continuous, routine movement remains a vital strategy for mitigating the global burden of type 2 diabetes across all adult age groups.

Source: Medical Xpress