Sedentary behaviour is associated with diabetes mellitus in adults: findings of a cross-sectional analysis from the Brazilian National Health System

Abstract

Background: Sedentary behaviour (SB) may contribute to the development of several chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus (DM) and all-cause mortality. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between different domains of SB with diabetes among adult users of the Brazilian National Health System (NHS).

Methods: Cross-sectional study from the primary care system of the Brazilian NHS in the city of Bauru, Brazil. SB, physical activity (PA), DM and other chronic diseases were assessed by face-to-face interviews and medical records. As potential confounders in the adjusted model, we used gender, age, economic status, smoking status, hypertension, hypercholesterolaemia and PA.

Results: The study was composed of 147 men and 410 women. The fully adjusted model showed that Brazilian adults spending ≥3 h per day in television viewing (OR = 1.61 [95% CI: 1.11-2.33]) and overall SB (OR = 1.60 [95% CI: 1.09-2.36]) had increased prevalence of DM compared to those spending <3 h per day.

Conclusions: TV viewing and overall SB was associated with higher prevalence of DM in Brazilian adults from the NHS, even after controlling for potential confounders including PA.

Keywords: diabetes mellitus; public health; sedentary lifestyle; television.