Increments in Physical Activity in the “En Balance” Diabetes Education Program in Type 2 Hispanic Diabetics

Abstract

ObjectiveTo assess the effect of “En Balance” on body composition and types of physical activity in participants.MethodsThe Family Habits Frequency Questionnaire was used to evaluate Hispanic subjects (n=9 males, 25 females) who participated in a 3 month education intervention with baseline and 3 month assessments. The Wilcoxon sign‐rank test was used to analyze changes in physical activity. The one within, one between ANOVA procedure was used to assess which type of physical activity had a significant influence on blood sugar control and body composition using fan beam dual X‐ray absorptiometry (DXA); Hologic Discovery A (software v. 12.6).ResultsAmong Hispanic females, those who performed 30 minutes of daily physical activity showed a significant decreased in hemoglobin A1c levels (p=0.03). They also showed a significant increase in physical activity with dancing being the preferred method (p=0.02). Participation in soccer among male subjects had a significant influence on total fat reduction (p=0.04) and HDL level increments (p=0.02).ConclusionThe culturally sensitive diabetes education program led to a significant improvement in body composition and blood sugar control with a significant influence of dancing among females and soccer involvement among males in this population of Hispanics with diabetes.Grant Funding Source: CMS grant 03‐00335 and NIH award 5P20MP001632