Physical activity and risk for metabolic syndrome: Prospective data from the HUNT study

Abstract

Background: Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, and has been associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and some types of cancer. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing, and this trend could be explained by more time spent in sedentary activities and reduced physical activity at work and during leisure time. The objective of this study was to prospectively examine the association between leisure time physical activity and risk of metabolic syndrome.

Material and methods: We included subjects aged 20 years or older who had participated in both the HUNT2 (1995- 1997) and HUNT3 (2006-2008) survey of the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study in Norway. After excluding persons with metabolic syndrome at baseline (HUNT2), a total of 17844 persons (10 188 women and 7656 men) with sufficient information was included in the analyses. We used logistic regression to compute odds ratios (ORs) as an estimate of relative risk of metabolic syndrome associated with different levels of physical activity. All of the analyses were conducted separately for men and women.

Results: All measures of physical activity showed evidence of a gradual inverse association with metabolic syndrome risk both in men and women (all p-values ≤0.07). Compared to being inactive, ≥1 hours of only light activity was associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome in men (OR = 0.79; 95% CI = 0.60 – 1.02), but somewhat weaker in women (OR = 0.88; 95% CI = 0.69 – 1.11). Moreover, ≥ 3 hours of hard activity was associated with 30% reduced risk in both men and women (OR = 0.70; 95% CI = 0.52 – 0.95) in men and (OR = 0.70; 95% CI = 0.43 – 1.01) in women. Similarly, combining light and hard activity gave ORs of 0.74 (95% CI = 0.60 – 0.91) in men and 0.66 (95% CI = 0.51 – 0.80) in women who conducted > 1 hour of hard activity and any amount of light activity.

Conclusion: The results from this study indicate that leisure time physical activity is associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome in both men and women. There was some evidence of a decreased risk even with light activity, although the strongest association was observed for those who also reported hard activ