[Physical activity in the prevention of diabetes in black ethnicity: how much is required?]

Analyze how much total physical activity (intensity and duration) is required and its different domains (work, commuting, household, and leisure time) as predictors of absence of diabetes in the black ethnicity population.

The design was cross-sectional with a sample of 2305 adults from 20 to 96 years of age, 902 (39.1%) male, living in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Receiver Operating Characteristic curves (ROC) were constructed to compare the areas of amount of physical activity in their different domains with absence of diabetes. Sensitivity and specificity were also established to identify the best cutoffs for the amount of physical activity related to absence of diabetes. Based on these cutoff points, a multivariate model was constructed to identify the association between physical activity and diabetes.

Among the different amounts of physical activity greater significance was found in areas under the ROC curve for total physical activity, moderate activities performed during leisure time and work among men and commuting among women. Walking by itself was not a good predictor of absence of diabetes among men. It was also observed that 185 minutes/week of physical activity accumulated in different domains for men and 215 minutes/week for women were the best cutoffs for predicting absence of diabetes.

Physical activity accumulated in different domains should be suggested in amounts suitable for a black ethnicity population in order to contribute to diabetes prevention.