Advice for Professionals

Physical activity levels of people with Type 1 diabetes

Recommended levels of activity

Shown below is the recommended levels of activity for adult, children and pregnant women with Type 1 diabetes.

Adults

At least 150 min/week of moderate intensity or 75 min/ week of vigorous intensity, aerobic, physical activity. This should be spread over three days with no more than two consecutive days without exercise.

In addition, muscle-strengthening activities that involve all major muscle groups should be performed on two or more days per week.

A reduction in sedentary time is also recommended. Prolonged sitting should be interrupted every 30 minutes

Flexibility training and balance training are recommended 2–3 times/week for older adults with diabetes. Yoga and Tai Chi may be included based on individual preferences to increase flexibility, muscular strength, and balance

Children

Children and adolescents with type 1 or type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes should engage in 60 min/day or more of moderate or vigorous intensity aerobic activity with vigorous muscle-strengthening and bone-strengthening activities at least 3 days/week.

Pregnancy

At least 30 mins of moderate exercise daily if there are no medical or obstetric complications.

How active are people with Type 1 DM

Most studies of physical activity (PA) levels in adults with Type 1 diabetes have been based on self-reported data rather than objective data. They all suggest that people with Type 1 diabetes are not very active.

Self-reported studies

A retrospective analysis of the Diabetes and Complications Trial found 19% of (271/1441) participants were not achieving recommended PA levels (see - Effects of physical activity on the development and progression of microvascular complications in type 1 diabetes: retrospective analysis of the DCCT study ).

In the EURODIAB prospective cohort study of 2185 people with Type 1 diabetes from 16 European countries, 786 (36%) patients were doing no or only mild PA (see - Association of physical activity with all-cause mortality and incident and prevalent cardiovascular disease among patients with type 1 diabetes: the EURODIAB Prospective Complications Study).

In the Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy Study, 23% of people with Type 1 diabetes were classed as sedentary and a further 21% were doing less than one session of exercise per week. (see - Physical Activity and Diabetes Complications in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes. The Finnish Diabetic Nephropathy (FinnDiane) Study).

In a cross sectional study of 18028 patients with Type 1 diabetes in Germany and Austria 63% of participants reported doing no regular PA (see - Impact of Physical Activity on Glycemic Control and Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: A Cross-sectional Multicenter Study of 18,028 Patients).

Objectively measured PA

In a Canadian study of adults with Type 1 diabetes only 43% of women and 55% of men with Type 1 diabetes were active (see - Physical activity level and body composition among adults with Type 1 diabetes).

In a UK study of adults with Type 1 diabetes, adults with Type 1 diabetes undertook 37 mins per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity compared to 52.9 mins per day in healthy matched controls. (see - Objective Measurement of Physical Activity in Adults With Newly Diagnosed Type 1 Diabetes and Healthy Individuals).

The reasons for the reduced level of physical activity could be due to that additional barriers that people with Type 1 diabetes have to physical activity - see .