THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES/EXERCISE ON OVERWEIGHT,OBESITY OR TYPE 2 DIABETES

The proportion of working adults with sedentary occupation in Sub Saharan Africa has considerably increased. Physical activities/exercise could be an alternative of inactivity related illnesses(Mashili F et al)

OBESITY

Obesity can be defined as an excess of body fat. A surrogate marker for body fat content is the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated as:

BMI = Weight in kg/Height m2

A BMI between 25 and 29.9 kg/m2 is called overweight, and a BMI greater than 30 kg/m2 is

called obese.

When greater quantities of energy (in the form of food) enter the body than are used, the body weight increases, and most of the excess energy is stored as fat.

The causes of obesity are complex. Although genes play an important role in determining food intake and energy metabolism, lifestyle and environmental factors may play the dominant role in many obese people. The rapid increase in the prevalence of obesity in the past 20 to 30 years emphasizes the important role of lifestyle and environmental factors, because genetic changes

could not have occurred so rapidly.

1.Sedentary Lifestyle Is a Major Cause of Obesity. Regular physical activity and physical training are known to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat mass, whereas inadequate physical activity is typically associated with decreased muscle mass and increased adiposity. For example, studies have shown a close association between sedentary behaviors, such as prolonged television watching, and obesity.

2.Abnormal Feeding Behavior Is an Important Cause of Obesity. Although powerful physiologic mechanisms regulate food intake, there are also important environmental and psychological factors that can cause abnormal feeding behavior, excessive energy intake, and obesity.

3.Childhood Overnutrition as a Possible Cause of Obesity. One factor that may contribute to obesity is the prevalent idea that healthy eating habits require three meals a day and that each meal must be filling. Many young children are forced into this habit by overly solicitous

parents, and the children continue to practice it throughout life. The rate of formation of new fat cells is especially rapid in the first few years of life, and the greater the rate of fat storage, the greater the number of fat cells. The number of fat cells in obese children is often as

much as three times that in normal children. Therefore, it has been suggested that overnutrition of children— especially in infancy and, to a lesser extent, during the later years of childhood—can lead to a lifetime of obesity.

4.Genetic Factors as a Cause of Obesity. Obesity definitely runs in families.

Obesity is one major causes/Risk factors of type 2 diabetes others being age,ethinicity and family history.

TYPE 2 DIABETES

Type 2 diabetes is relatively common in all populations enjoying an affluent lifestyle.

A major factor leading to increased rates of type 2 diabetes is inactivity. Physical exercise is critical in the prevention of type 2 diabetes.

Diabetes Complications

1. Leading cause of blindness
2. Leading cause of kidney failure
3. Leading cause of amputations
   

   • People with diabetes are 25 times more likely to loose a foot than people without diabetes
   • More than one million people loose a leg every year due to diabetes that means that every 30 seconds one person loose a leg somewhere in the world
   • 70% of all amputation happen to people with diabetes
   • 5 years after the amputation of the lower limb up to 70% of people may have died.
4. Major cause of heart attacks
5. Major cause of strokes

EFFECTS OF EXERCISE/PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES ON PEOPLE WHO ARE OVERWEIGHT,OBESE AND TYPE 2 DIABETES

In a study done by Mashili et al to investigate the effect of leisure time physical activity on metabolic profile in overweight,obese and type 2 diabetes adults,resident of Dar es salaam city in Tanzania where the relationship between physical activity and metabolic variables was assessed. They found that Cholesterol level,fasting glucose level,blood pressure and resting heart rate improved significantly in obese and type 2 diabetes people after six weeks of participaion in leisure time physical activity.

HOW?

Exercise induce an alternative pathway for glucose uptake instead of using insulin!!

Under Basal Conditions GLUT4 is Primarily Intracellular but during exercise these intracellural receptors expressed on the cell surface membrane.

People with type 2 diabetes are advised to have aerobic physical activities of about 150minutes/week this will help them for the same reason explained above.

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Paschal Ndaro