Effects of relocation of sedentary time and physical activity in older adults with diabetes mellitus

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the hypothetical effects of substituting time spent in moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and time spent in sedentary behavior (SB) and their associations with diabetes. METHODS: A cross‐sectional study using exploratory survey methods was performed in Alcobaça city in the state of Bahia, Brazil in the year 2015. A total of 473 older adults (aged ≥60 years) participated in the study. Diabetes mellitus, time MVPA, and SB were assessed in a self‐reported manner. The Poisson regression was used to verify the hypothetical effects of the substitution of MVPA with SB on diabetes. RESULTS: The substitution of the time in MVPA with time in SB showed higher prevalence ratios of diabetes. Conversely, the substitution of the time in SB proved to be a protective factor, with risks reduced by between 4% and 19%. DISCUSSION: The substitution of the time spent in MVPA with the same amount of time spent on SB can lead to an increase in the probability of diabetes, and a longer reallocation time corresponded to a greater risk.