Strength training may cut type 2 diabetes risk in Asian workers

(HealthDay)—Strength training may help cut the risk of incident type 2 diabetes in a working-age Asian population, according to a study published online March 2 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation.

Keisuke Kuwahara, Ph.D., from the National Center for Global Health and Medicine in Tokyo, and colleagues analyzed data from the health checkups of 26,630 Japanese workers (aged 30 to 64 years) without diabetes at baseline and followed them for a mean of 5.2 years. A self-reported questionnaire was used to determine weekly time spent strength training.

The researchers found that over the study period 1,770 individuals developed diabetes. Among those who engaged in strength training, the age- and sex-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for diabetes was 0.58 compared with those who engaged in no strength training. Additional adjustment for body mass index did not materially change the result (HR, 0.7) beyond the HR seen with adjustment for other potential confounders (0.66). Although not significant, the association was greater in individuals aged 50 years or older than in those younger than 50 years.

"These results suggest that engagement in strength training may help to reduce risk of type 2 diabetes in a Japanese working population," the authors write.

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