Abstract
Lifestyle-related diseases including type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertension have markedly increased in Japan after World War 2.
Workers tend not to exercise sufficiently on weekends as they are exhausted from hard work during weekdays.
It is well known that exercise is beneficial to patient with diabetes mellitus. Many studies show the benefit of exercise in increasing insulin sensitivity and improving glucose tolerance.
The data on questionnaire show greater dialy physical activity in employees with type 2 diabetes mellitus than in all employees. However, employees with type 2 diabetes mellitus had spent inactive weekends.
To investigate association between leisure-time physical activity and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus, the relationship between leisure-time physical activity and the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus has been examined in prospective cohort study (Osaka Health Survey). The result indicate that regular physical exercise at least once a week or vigorous activity even only once a week on weekends is effective for decreasing incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. It was also revealed in Osaka Health Survey that walking to work decreased the risk of hypertension, which is a most common complication of type 2 diabetes mellitus, in a dose-dependent manner.
It is concluded that daily physical activity should be recommended to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.
