More steps daily wards off diabetes

MELBOURNE, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A higher daily step count over five years is linked with lower weight, lower waist-to-hip ratio and better insulin sensitivity, Australian researchers say.

Researchers at the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute in Melbourne say the study involved 592 middle-aged adults who took part in a national study on diabetes across Australia from 2000 to 2005.

Study participants completed a detailed diet and lifestyle questionnaire and were given a health examination. They were also given a pedometer and instructed how to use it and were monitored five years later.

The authors estimate that a sedentary person who takes a very low number of daily steps but who was able to change behavior over five years to meet the popular 10,000-daily step guideline would have a threefold improvement in insulin sensitivity compared with a similar person who increased his or her steps to meet the more recent recommendation of 3,000 steps for five days a week.

"These findings, confirming 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-age adults." the study authors say in a statement.

The findings are published in the British Medical Journal.