Maysa Sousa is going to present results obtained in patients with type 2 diabetes
Regular physical activity has a positive impact on the health and well-being of people of different age groups and physical abilities, and has been shown in several studies to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases and chronic health conditions. In this context, and taking advantage of the proximity of the Football World Cup, the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar and the Generation Amazing foundation will host the Sports for Health conference in Doha, from October 4 to October 6 this year.
The event aims to strengthen global knowledge networks on the subject and translate science into policies and practices around the use of football and sport for health, with the participation of several international experts.
As part of this network, and at the invitation of the WHO, researcher Maysa Sousa, from the Laboratory of Carbohydrates and Radioimmunoassays (LIM/18) of the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (Faculty of Medicine of the University of São Paulo, FMUSP), will present the results of her project “Football and Health: impact of nutrition and recreational soccer practice in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus”. Funded by FAPESP (Foundation for Research Support of the State of SP), it evaluates the effect of recreational soccer practice 3 times a week for 40 minutes, and a healthy low-calorie diet on the health of patients with type 2 diabetes and on the prevention of comorbidities.
“It’s the recognition of a Brazilian project as an example to the world of health promotion regarding a serious and high-cost disease like diabetes”, says Maysa. Taking advantage of the love of Brazilians for football, the researcher identified the sport as a viable tool for health promotion, motivating people with the disease to get out of a sedentary condition and avoid micro and macrovascular complications, which are expensive to treat. As a result, there was a better control of the disease among the casual players, with a reduction in total cholesterol and triglycerides, an increase in cardiorespiratory capacity, a reduction in diabetes complications, and remission of diabetes in 5% of the study’s participants, among others benefits.
As the researcher points out, “the high prevalence of this and other non-communicable diseases in the Brazilian population highlights the urgent need to optimize effective and sustainable preventive strategies”. According to the most current data from the International Diabetes Federation, among Brazilians aged 20 to 79 years old, approximately 15.7 million have the disease.
Thus, the Doha Conference will provide the opportunity for delegates to gain practical insights into current initiatives and experiences. "It will be an important opportunity to discuss experiences of community sport programs and implementation and evaluation in different contexts, identifying the best practices of programs for the population with chronic diseases and obtaining resources for this purpose", says Maysa.
More information about the event and the full schedule can be found at: https://2022.wish.org.qa/sport-for-health-conference/
