Brief walk could cut risk of diabetes

Older adults at risk for getting diabetes who took a 15-minute walk after every meal improved their blood-sugar levels, a new study revealed.

Three short walks after eating worked better to control blood-sugar levels than one 45-minute walk in the morning or evening, said lead researcher Loretta DiPietro, chairwoman of the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services in Washington, DC, United States.

"More importantly, the post-meal walking was significantly better than the other two exercise prescriptions at lowering the post-dinner glucose level," DiPietro added.

The after-dinner period is an especially vulnerable time for older people at risk of diabetes, DiPietro said. Insulin production decreases, and they may go to bed with extremely high blood-glucose levels, increasing their chances of diabetes.

DiPietro's new research, among 10 older adults, who were 70 years old on average, suggests that brief walks can lower the risk if they are taken at the right times. In the study, published last week in the journal Diabetes Care, the walks began a half-hour after finishing each meal.

DiPietro cautioned, however, that "you have to do it every day" to get the benefit. It's not a prescription for fitness, she said, but simply to reduce diabetes risk.