Impacto e aderência de indivíduos com diabetes no Programa Academia da Cidade

Abstract

An epidemic of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is ongoing and a large proportion of people diagnosed with the disorder do not exercise regularly. In Belo Horizonte, the Academia da Cidade Program is a strategy to improve the quality of life of the population through the practice of physical exercises. Therefore, it is important to understand the impact of the program on the health of individuals with and without a diagnosis of DM over time. For the analysis of adherence, we used attendance lists, and, for the anthropometric measures, we used a physical evaluation protocol from the Program. We assessed 812 members of the Program, classified into two groups: “diabetic” (DG) and “non-diabetic” (NDG). We applied the physical examination at the baseline, 6 and 12 months after the beginning of the exercise practice. Class attendance was similar between the DG and NDG groups. At the baseline, the measurements of systolic blood pressure, body weight, waist circumference, and body mass index were significantly greater for DG than for NDG (p = 0.008, 0.001, < 0.001 and > 0.001, respectively). After 12 months, DG and NDG showed significant waist circumference reduction in comparison to the baseline (p = 0.037 and p = 0.005, respectively). In conclusion, in the Academia da Cidade Program of the Northeast Region of Belo Horizonte DG and GND showed similar attendance to classes, with a significant reduction for waist circumference after a year. However, a longer study is desirable to identify significant results for the other variables.