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Walking daily brings benefits

A half an hour walk each day has been shown to help people lose weight and reduce their waist measurement. The study also showed a reduction in risk factors for high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes for daily walkers.

The study

Researchers at the Duke University Medical Centre, USA studied 171 overweight people over 8 months.

At the beginning of the study 41% had risk factors for Type 2 diabetes. The patients then walked for 30 minutes each day. At the end of the study only 27% had Type 2 diabetes risk factors.

The Type 2 diabetes risk factors the researchers tracked, included:

• waist measurement
• weight measurement
• blood glucose levels
• blood pressure levels

Douglass Smallwood from Diabetes UK, told Medical News Today, "It is vital that we reinforce the importance of physical activity to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes and its associated complications such as heart disease, stroke and blindness."

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