Shedding pounds makes people with type 2 diabetes not only healthier but happier, a study shows. Researchers set two goals for participants: Reduce body mass by 7 percent, and put in 175 minutes of physical activity per week. Participants were taught how to lose weight through exercise and diet; they went to one individual and two or three group sessions a month, each including a weigh-in. By the end of the yearlong study, this group had lost weight and improved fitness compared with a control group that met a total of three times, receiving diabetes education that didn’t focus on weight loss. The group that got the intensive training reported greater contentment than the control group, with people who were the least fit at the outset showing the biggest boosts in satisfaction.
Source: Archives of Internal Medicine, Jan. 26, 2009