Association of Lifestyle Factors with Fasting Blood Glucose Level in Type 2 Diabetes

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disorder characterized by raised blood glucose levels and symptoms such as excessive thirst and urination. It is caused by the ineffectiveness or absence of insulin hormone in the body. Type 2 diabetes is the most common and prominent form of diabetes. Currently, 537 million people have diabetes all over the world which can be reduced with the help of modifying lifestyle factors. This study was conducted to analyze the association between lifestyle factors and fasting glucose levels. For the study, 200 type 2 diabetic patients aged between 30 and 60 years were selected from the housing societies of New Delhi. The people who voluntarily wished to participate and had diabetes for at least one year were selected for the study. They should not be consuming insulin and not suffering from any health condition, both physical and mental, rather than diabetes. Both male and female diabetic patients were considered for the study. The general information questionnaire and the lifestyle-based questionnaire were filled by the participants. The mean age and BMI were found to be 49.4 ± 8.2 years and 23.3 ± 4.2 Kg/m2, respectively. The habit of smoking was found to be associated with the fasting glucose level (P = .04). The other lifestyle factors, which were physical activity (P = .13), alcohol (P = .37) and sleep (P = .08), were not found to be associated with the fasting glucose level. Physical activity showed negative correlation with fasting glucose level (r = -0.10), while alcohol and smoking showed positive correlation (r = 0.58 and 0.22, respectively). Sleep showed no correlation with the fasting glucose level (r = 0.00).