Many adults in Canada live with metabolic conditions:

• Obesity (body mass index ≥30 kg/m2) affected 26.4% or 8.3 million adults in 2016.
• Overweight (body mass index 25-29.9 kg/m2) affected 34% or 10.6 million adults in 2016.
• In 2015, 9.3% or 3.4 million adults were living with diabetes and 22.1% or 5.7 million adults were living with prediabetes.

Obesity and diabetes increase the risk of developing other health conditions:

• Obesity increases the risk of heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes.
• Diabetes also increases the risk of heart disease and stroke as well as kidney failure, and leg and foot amputation.

Prediabetes refers to blood sugar levels that are higher than normal; nearly 50% of those with prediabetes will go on to develop type 2 diabetes.

Physical activity and metabolic conditions

Regular physical activity causes a wide range of health benefits in adults even if body weight and blood sugar control do not change.

Canadian guidelines recommend that adults living with obesity, prediabetes, and/or diabetes do both aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise and decrease sedentary behaviour (e.g., sitting or watching TV) for health benefits and/or body weight control.

Useful resources

Diabetes, Exercise & You (Vancouver Coastal Health, Canada)
This booklet presents the benefits of physical activity for persons with diabetes, the types of activity that have a positive impact on diabetes, and getting started and staying safe with physical activity.

Physical Activity Counselling Toolkit (University of Alberta, Canada)
This Toolkit consists of handouts on physical activity for type 2 diabetes (Topics H and I) and weight management (Topic J), which are intended to be used with a health care provider.

Being Active When You Have Prediabetes (Exercise is Medicine, USA)
This handout presents the benefits of physical activity for persons with prediabetes, the types of activity that have a positive impact on prediabetes, and getting started with physical activity.

Being Active When You Have Type 2 Diabetes (Exercise is Medicine, USA)
This handout presents the benefits of physical activity for persons with type 2 diabetes, the types of activity that have a positive impact on type 2 diabetes, and getting started and staying safe with physical activity.

Being Active for a Healthy Weight (Exercise is Medicine, USA)
This handout presents the benefits of physical activity for managing weight, the types of activity that have a positive impact on health, and getting started with physical activity.

Fitness (American Diabetes Association, USA)
This website provides information on how exercise affects blood sugar (blood glucose) and how to exercise safely with diabetes.