Levels and Patterns of Physical Activity in Children and Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes and Associated Metabolic and Physiologic Health Outcomes

Abstract

Background:The current study objectively assessed physical activity (PA) levels and patterns in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes and compared the metabolic and physiologic health profiles of those achieving and those not achieving the current recommendation of 60 minutes a day (minutes·D−1) of at least moderate intensity PA.Method:37 children and adolescents (20 boys, 17 girls) aged 12.7 ± 2.1 years (mean ± SD), disease duration 5.9 ± 3.0 years participated. PA was assessed using heart rate monitoring. Peak VO2, BMI, sum of 5 skinfolds, HbA1c, and daily insulin dosage were also determined.Results:Mean accumulated time in moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA was 53.6 ± 31.4 minutes·D−1. Levels of vigorous-intensity PA were low, mean 8.3 ± 10.2 minutes·D−1. When controlling for age, no differences in metabolic or physiologic health outcomes were evident between those individuals achieving, and those not achieving, 60 minutes·D−1 of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA. PA predominantly occurred in short bouts lasting 5 minutes or less.Conclusion:The efficacy of accumulating 60 minutes·D−1 of moderate-to-vigorous intensity PA, in the form of short duration, intermittent bouts of largely unplanned PA, to promote health gains in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes is questionable.

Association of physical activity level with depression, anxiety, and quality of life in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus

“…Group characteristics are presented in Table 1. The mean age was 9.87±1.63 (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) years in the T1DM group and that for the control group was 9.56±1.60 (8)(9)(10)(11)(12) years. The mean disease duration at the time of enrollment was 2.77±1.86 years.…”

“…Previous studies reported that children younger than 7 years (36), older children and adolescents (3,6,8) with T1DM were less physically active than their healthy peers. However, the study of Lukács et al (10) using PAQ-C in children with T1DM aged 8-12 years found no difference, which is concurrent with our finding.…”

“…PA also increases psychological well-being in people with T1DM (5-7). On the other hand, the health status of children with T1DM and severity of disease may affect PA levels (8,9).…”

Step-count guidelines referenced on 60-minutes of moderate/vigorous physical activity

“…Recollection of physical activity duration and understanding of physical activity intensity are difficult tasks. Physical activity recall, a widely used procedure to assess physical activity behavior, is questionable since children and adolescents typically spread their activity throughout the day (Edmunds, Roche, & Stratton, 2010). Besides, to objectively measure physical activity intensity and duration, expensive equipment (i.e.…”

Increase in physical activity is associated with lower HbA1c levels in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes: Results from a cross-sectional study based on the Swedish pediatric diabetes quality registry (SWEDIABKIDS)

“…Several studies have focused on the correlation between physical activity and HbA1c. Some have succeeded in showing a significant HbA1c-lowering effect of physical activity (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), whereas others have failed do so (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22). HbA1c is a main variable in pediatric diabetes care.…”