HABITS OF PATIENTS AND IMPORTANCE OF PHYSICAL EDUCATOR IN THE TREATMENT OF DIABETES MELLITUS TYPE II IN PALMAS, TOCANTINS, BRAZIL

Diabetes mellitus, a non-communicable disease that can affect men and women, can be classified as type I or type II. This disease is in the 4^th position in numbers of deaths in Brazil, and therefore, involves attention, both from the government, as the patients and family. The aims of this study is describe the lifestyle in relation to diet, foot care and proper medication, and the point of view of patients with <em>diabetes mellitus</em> type II, on the importance of the practice of physical exercise, coordinated and programmed. We performed a study using Questionnaire of Self-Care Activities with Diabetes (QAD) and a second questionnaire with questions related to the importance of exercise for patients with <em>diabetes mellitus</em> type II. Questionnaires were applied in 20 patients with the disease (08 men and 12 women), living in the city of Palmas, Tocantins, Brazil. Result: We noticed that even with the recommendations of healthcare professionals, most patients with <em>diabetes mellitus</em> type 2 has not adapted verification of blood glucose, proper nutrition and foot care. Moreover, despite the interviewees know the importance of performing regular physical activity, we noticed that these do not know how much of weekly days in which they must get physical exercise in order to control the disease. Most interviewees adopt just walk as the physical activity, and we have not verified from the answers of patients, if they know what the most beneficial exercises to control this disease