December 19 (HealthDay News) -- Less TV and more exercise may help reduce incidence of type 2 diabetes, especially among black women, a new report shows.

Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center made that conclusion based on a survey of black women, a high-risk group for the disease. The findings were published online in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The research linked vigorous activity with a reduced risk of diabetes. Those who walked briskly for at least five hours a week had less chance of developing diabetes than those who didn't walk.

"Our results confirm that vigorous activity is protective against type 2 diabetes in African-American women," study author Julie Palmer, a professor of epidemiology at Boston University's School of Public Health and senior epidemiologist at the Slone Center, said in a university news release. "A key public health finding is that brisk walking reduced risk. That is important, because many women don't have the time or place to engage in 'vigorous' physical activity, but most women can find time to walk."

Watching an appreciable amount of television, regardless of the women's level of physical activity, was linked to a greater risk of diabetes, the study found.

SOURCE: Boston University, news release, Dec. 8, 2008