Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness is an Independent Predictor of Metabolic Syndrome in Young Korean Adults

Hyun-Sik Kang,Shinuk Kim,Soo-Hyun Park

doi:10.1038/npre.2008.2236.1

Hyun-Sik Kang, Shinuk Kim + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.2236.1

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Abstract

Abstract Objective: To investigate the relationship between cardio/respiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in young Korean men. Design: In a cross-sectional study, we examined 909 young Korean men (mean&177;SD age, 24.0&177;2 years) who were healthy and not taking any medications affecting blood pressure, glucose, or lipids concentrations. Body fatness, resting blood pressures, and fasting blood levels of lipids, glucose, and insulin were measured with our standardized laboratory protocols. CRF was quantified as the maximum volume of minute oxygen consumption measured during a graded treadmill test. Metabolic syndrome was defined with the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and a modified cut-off value of waist circumference from the Asia-Pacific Perspective: Redefining Obesity and its Treatment. Results: Group analyses showed significant and inverse dose-response trends between the metabolic syndrome markers and CRF levels such that men with high and moderate CRF levels had more favorable profiles in body fatness, resting blood pressures, mean values in fasting lipids, glucose, and insulin, and homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance than men with low CRF level. After adjusting for several potential confounders such as age, smoking, and body fatness variables, the low and moderate CRF groups had odds of 4.64 (95% CI, 2.00 to 10.79) and 2.57 (95% CI, 1.04 to 6.34) for having metabolic syndrome than the high CRF group. Conclusion: These findings suggest that low CRF is a significant and independent risk factor for metabolic syndrome in young Korean men.

Highlights

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries around the world [1]
Comparison of metabolic syndrome risk profiles across cardio/respiratory fitness (CRF) levels Table 1 illustrates the comparison of body fatness and fitness and metabolic syndrome risk factors across CRF levels
Similar and inverse trends for lower resting blood pressures across CRF levels were found such that the high CRF group had significantly lower systolic (P

Summary

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in both developed and developing countries around the world [1]. The exact etiology of metabolic syndrome is uncertain, both genetic and lifestyle factors are likely to be involved in its development [7]. With the overall Korean lifestyle becoming more like the western one, low physical activity along with a high-fat diet is becoming more prevalent in South Korea [8]. The overall prevalence of obesity has been substantially increased All those lifestyle factors appear to contribute to dramatic increases in complications such as metabolic syndrome. Koreans appear to be more prone to the development of insulin resistance, a key component of the metabolic syndrome, due to the impairment of early-phase insulin secretion capacity [11]

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