Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior among Diabetic from the Provincial Referral Center of Diabetes, Kenitra, Morocco

Abstract

1.1. Introduction: A regular physical activity is associated with health outcomes and can reduce rates of a number of non-communicable diseases 1.2. Objectives: describe the level of physical activity and sedentary behavior according to age and gender among diabetic’s adults using the (General physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), in the province of Kenitra, Morocco. 1.3. Material and methods: This study was carried out from January 2015 to April 2016, the target population was diabetics, The sample was consisted by 329 diabetics aged 18–86years (28,6% of men and 70,5% of women) living in Kenitra, Morocco. 12,7% were aged 18-39years, 65,5% were aged 40-64years and 20,8% were aged 65-86years. The Assessment of physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior was performed by the Arabic version of the General physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ). 1.4. Results: In general, 58,4% of adults showed a low level of PA, 23.2% fell within the moderate level of PA and 17.5% of people showed a high level of PA. Both men and women aged 40 – 64years, have a high level of sedentary behavior: the higher percentages of a low and moderate physical activity correspond to diabetics aged 40–64, are respectively 16,84%, 31,58% (For male); and 16,24%, 41,03% (for women). There is no link between gender and the practice or not of physical activity (χ² =0,428 p=0.482>0 and V Cramer=0,044). 1.5. Conclusion: Those diabetics present a low level of physical activity and a high level of sedentary behavior, which may lead to a lot of long-term complications. So to make sure of this hypothesis another research is necessary to study the impact of this lack of PA on the glycemic control of those diabetics.