Association of leisure-time physical activity modality and level of practice with the prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure in Brazilian adults: a cross-sectional study

Background Physical activity is a cornerstone of chronic disease prevention, yet the associations between different leisure-time physical activity modalities and the prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure remain underexplored, particularly in middle-income countries. Objective To evaluate the associations of various leisure-time physical activity modalities and levels of practice with the prevalence of self-reported diabetes and high blood pressure among Brazilian adults. Methods This cross-sectional study used data from the 2023 VIGITEL survey, which included adults (aged 18 years or older) residing in all Brazilian state capitals. The outcomes, diabetes and high blood pressure, were self-reported. Leisure-time physical activity was categorized into four modalities: aerobic, strength, gymnastics, and sports. Physical activity levels were classified as physically inactive (< 10 min/week), the reference group for the analysis, insufficiently active (< 150 min/week), active (≥ 150 and < 300 min/week), or very active (≥ 300 min/week). Poisson regression models were applied to obtain the prevalence ratios (PR), adjusting for age group, sex, body mass index, and education. Results Active (PR = 0.352; 95%CI 0.164–0.756) and very active (PR = 0.217; 95%CI 0.084–0.559) sport practitioners and very active strength practitioners (PR = 0.269; 95%CI 0.185–0.391) had a lower prevalence of diabetes. Additionally, insufficiently active (PR sport = 0.242; 95%CI 0.103–0.568; PR strength = 0.485; 95%CI 0.277–0.849), active (PR sport = 0.396; 95%CI 0.246–0.636; PR strength = 0.608; 95%CI 0.388–0.955), and very active (PR sport = 0.257; 95%CI 0.134–0.491; PR strength = 0.486; 95%CI 0.391–0.604) sport or strength practices were associated with lower prevalence of high blood pressure. Conclusions Leisure-time physical activity modality is associated with a lower prevalence of diabetes and high blood pressure, particularly for strength and sports, whereas aerobic and gymnastic activities are not significantly associated.