EXERCISE VERSUS BODY MASS INDEX AS PREDICTORS OF CVD RISK FACTORS IN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMEN 501

Abstract

We determined the potential impact of regular exercise on CVD risk factors in lean and overweight African-American women who were members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and who followed a prudent, plant-based diet. Using a cross-sectional analysis, we examined blood pressure (BP), blood lipids and insulin in a sample of 142 Black women (x age=52 yrs) recruited from churches in three northeastem U.S. cities. Women were divided into four groups based on BMI (above versus below 27 kg/m2) and self-reported exercise frequency (≤ 1 time/wk versus ≥ 2 time/wk: 1) LE=Lean exercisers (n=50; x BMI=22.6 kg/m2, x exercise frequency=4.0 session/wk; 2) LNE=Lean non-exercisers (n=39, BMI=23.1); 3) OWE=Overweight exercisers (n=22, BMI=30.9, x exercise frequency= 3.9 sessions/wk; and 4) OWNE=Overweight nonexercisers (n=31, BMI=32.8). Two-way ANCOVAs (BMI X exercise frequency with age as a covariate) revealed significant (p <0.05) main effects of BMI on BP, serum total cholesterol (STC), triglycerides (TG), low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and the lipid ratios STC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C. The values for these variables were more favorable in the low BMI groups compared to the high BMI groups collapsed across exercise categories. There were significant (p <0.05) main effects of exercise frequency only for LDL-C, STC/HDL-C, LDL-C/HDL-C, and fasting insulin, such that values for these variables were lower for exercisers compared to nonexercisers collapsed across BMI categories. There were BMI by exercise interactions at p<0.10 for LDL-C and the above lipid ratios, with these values lower for LE, LNE, and OWE compared to OWNE. These data suggest that in this population, regular exercise may attenuate the adverse effects of overweight on several, but not all of the measured CVD risk factors.