Reallocating morning physical activity to later‐day activity and its association with type 2 diabetes incidence: The Maastricht Study
Authors' conclusion
Later-day physical activity, particularly in the afternoon, was associated with a lower incidence of T2DM, independent of intensity. This highlights the potential relevance of activity timing in relation to T2DM incidence.
Study context
- Population
- Adults without diabetes from The Maastricht Study cohort; age 59.2 ± 8.6 years; 56.3% women
- Participants
- 4,615 adults
- Exposure
- Time-of-day-specific physical activity (morning, afternoon, evening, night) and reallocation of morning activity to later in the day
- Outcome
- Incident T2D
- Follow-up
- median 8.2-year follow-up
Methodological detailsdevice-based physical activity (activPAL, 7 days), Cox proportional hazard and isotemporal substitution models, adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors
- Device-based physical activity (activPAL, 7 days)
- Cox proportional hazard and isotemporal substitution models
- Adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Incident T2D per additional 10 min/day of activity by time of day
Afternoon LPA, HR per 10 min/day
0.82
95% CI 0.70–0.97
Afternoon MVPA, HR per 10 min/day
0.85
95% CI 0.72–1.00
Evening MVPA, HR (0.45-0.93)
0.65
Night-time MVPA, HR, increased risk (1.30-10.17)
3.64
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Incident T2D · median 8.2-year follow-up
- Developed T2D during follow-up
- 168 participants (3.6%)
Isotemporal substitution: reallocating 10 min of morning activity
- Morning LPA to afternoon LPA, HR (0.54-0.95)
- 0.71
- Morning MVPA to evening MVPA, HR (0.43-0.96)
- 0.64
- No other significant associations
Original publication
Reallocating morning physical activity to later‐day activity and its association with type 2 diabetes incidence: The Maastricht Study. Diabetes Obes Metab. Published 13 January 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →