We certainly live in a society that is supportive of physical activity, whether or not we are actually active or not. Heck–Ronald McDonald promotes physical activity. There are “get out and play” campaigns endorsed everywhere to promote school children to play. So where’s the problem?
Exercise alone is not going to do it. Period. We can promote events for the kids to come out and play, but if we feed them hot dogs and potato chips we’ve completely dropped the ball.
We could easily argue that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were active. They had no choice. But 3-5 days per week of targeted exercise? I’m thinking that caveman didn’t get together on Saturday mornings for an group aerobic class around the campfire.
This particular study, while a little complex, concludes that diet is the critical factor in managing our risk towards diabetes, NOT exercise. That’s not to say that exercise is not important, but I hear far too often about patients who are exercising in an attempt to lower their cholesterol or blood sugar but are not as diligent about diet. It’s the wrong focus and needs to change if we want to avoid diabetes.
Better yet…do the exercise AND the dietary changes!