"Public health programs that are directed at controlling diabetes are going to need to pay a lot more attention to arthritis if they hope to get people to be physically active," he said.
The report is based on data gathered from a random telephone survey in 2005 and 2007. People were asked if they had ever been diagnosed with arthritis or diabetes.
It does not say what type of arthritis people had -- osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis or another form -- or if people had type 2 diabetes, the most common kind that is associated with obesity and lack of exercise. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease often diagnosed at an early age.
