Effects of Light Intensity Activity on CVD Risk Factors: A Systematic Review of Intervention Studies.

Romeo B Batacan,Andrew S Fenning,Patrick S Tucker,Vincent J Dalbo,Mitch J Duncan

doi:10.1155/2015/596367

Abstract

The effects of light intensity physical activity (LIPA) on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors remain to be established. This review summarizes the effects of LIPA on CVD risk factors and CVD-related markers in adults. A systematic search of four electronic databases (PubMed, Academic Search Complete, SPORTDiscus, and CINAHL) examining LIPA and CVD risk factors (body composition, blood pressure, glucose, insulin, glycosylated hemoglobin, and lipid profile) and CVD-related markers (maximal oxygen uptake, heart rate, C-reactive protein, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and tumor necrosis factor receptors 1 and 2) published between 1970 and 2015 was performed on 15 March 2015. A total of 33 intervention studies examining the effect of LIPA on CVD risk factors and markers were included in this review. Results indicated that LIPA did not improve CVD risk factors and CVD-related markers in healthy individuals. LIPA was found to improve systolic and diastolic blood pressure in physically inactive populations with a medical condition. Reviewed studies show little support for the role of LIPA to reduce CVD risk factors. Many of the included studies were of low to fair study quality and used low doses of LIPA. Further studies are needed to establish the value of LIPA in reducing CVD risk.

Highlights

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide [1]
Findings of this review indicate no significant changes in resting blood pressure (BP) in healthy adults but found significant improvements in physically inactive individuals with a medical condition
Cross-sectional research findings [12, 13, 18] suggest that light intensity physical activity (LIPA) may help to improve an individual’s metabolic profile, there is no evidence to support the effect of LIPA in providing positive changes in CVD risk factors in healthy adults

Summary

Introduction

Several biological risk factors, such as male gender, family history of heart disease, high blood pressure (BP), dyslipidemia, obesity, glucose abnormalities, insulin resistance, and lifestyle risk factors, such as smoking, poor diet, lack of physical activity, low cardiorespiratory fitness, excessive alcohol use, and stress, are associated with the development and progression of CVD [2, 3]. These lifestyle risk factors strongly influence the established biological CVD risk factors and affect novel pathways of risk such as inflammation [4]. Early studies demonstrate that light intensity physical activity (LIPA) (20 < 40% VO2 max [14])

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