52 Total and LDL Cholesterol Level Decreased with Adequate Amount of Physical Activity

Abstract

Background: High level of cholesterol and low physical activity correlate with hypertension. Low physical activity will cause low energy expenditure and as a consequences, calorie intake will be stored as lipid. There were several studies that have been conducted to analyze the relationship between physical activity and cholesterol level. However, the results varied. This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between physical activity and total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein (LDL) and high density lipoprotein (HDL) level in Jatinangor community. Method: An analytical cross-sectional study design involving 120 subjects from ‘Primary and secondary prevention of hypertension in Jatinangor’ research was used in this study. The studied variables consisted of gender, age, body mass index, physical activity, total cholesterol, LDL and HDL levels. The data were analyzed using Spearman's rank-order correlation formula. Result: The result revealed that there was a significant negative relationshipbetween physical activity and total cholesterol and LDL levels, r = −0.302(p = 0.001) and r = −0.288(p = 0.001), respectivelly. Meanwhile, there was no significant relationship between physical activity and HDL cholesterol levels, with r = 0.090 (p = 0.328). Conclusion: Physical activity correlates negatively with total cholesterol and LDL level.