Health educator Mrs Rachael Adeoti said that while in general 30 minutes of exercise at least five days a week was good at preventing diabetes complications, it was only safe to do it after meals.
Mrs Adeoti spoke at the World Diabetes Day 2022 celebrations organized by the Diabetes Care Team at Ibadan University College Hospital (UCH) in conjunction with the Diabetes Association of Nigeria (DAN), UCH chapters providing blood pressure and blood glucose checks, educational talks on diabetes and Counseling and referral opportunities in the community.
Daily exercise after meals, especially checking blood sugar, is important for improving blood sugar control, improving overall health, reducing the risk of heart disease and stroke, and improving the health of patients, Adeoti said.
According to her, while there are no foods that people with diabetes cannot eat; eating in moderation with lots of vegetables, good foot care and adhering to diabetes medications and doctor’s recommendations are very important factors.
Mrs. Motunrayo Odunneye, Assistant Chief Dietitian at UCH Ibadan, said that for diabetics, the quantity, quality and timing of meals are important for prevention and achieving good blood sugar control.
According to her, appropriate lifestyle changes, especially for Nigerians with a family history of diabetes, need to start at the age of 35, while women who develop diabetes during pregnancy should consider it as an indicator of increased risk of developing diabetes in the future.
Dr William Balogun, a diabetologist and father at the time, said raising awareness of diabetes in Nigeria was important because of the urgent need for diabetes, foot ulcers and other complications of diabetes, including stroke, blindness and kidney failure. The situation is still very common.
According to him, the devastating effects of the disease make it imperative for those with diabetes, those with prediabetes and those without diabetes to make the disease a priority to prevent its complications.
However, DAN’s South West Vice President, Chief Emmanuel Adeyinka has urged the government to remove taxes on diabetes medicines to ensure they are affordable and accessible to those living with the disease.
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s);
js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.5”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));