Sleep well, but be active. Effect of sleep and sedentariness on incidence of diabetes

Type of funding sources: Public grant(s) – National budget only. Main funding source(s): The Faculty of Biology and Medicine of Lausanne, the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Both long/short sleep and inactivity have been associated with the development of diabetes. However, their effects have seldom been jointly assessed.

We aimed to determine the individual effect of long/short sleep and of inactivity on diabetes risk using data from a population-based prospective study in Switzerland.

Participants devoid of diabetes were included. Incident diabetes was defined based on either fasting plasma glucose (FPG), or glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c), or any diagnostic criterion (FPG, HbA1c or medical diagnosis). Sleep and sedentary levels were assessed by questionnaire. Sleep was categorized into short (<7 hours/day), adequate (7-9 hours/day) and long (>9 hours/day). Follow-up was conducted for 10 years.

Data from 3355 participants was analyzed. There were 136, 110 and 142 incident cases of diabetes as defined by FPG, HbA1c or any diagnostic criterion, respectively. On bivariate analysis, participants who developed diabetes had a higher level of sedentariness but no differences were found regarding sleep duration or prevalence of short or long sleepers. Similar results were obtained after adjusting for age, gender, education, smoking and body mass index (see table).

The findings of the study revealed that being sedentary, but not long hours sleep, is related to a higher risk of developing diabetes.