Low Cardiorespiratory Fitness Is Independently Associated With Metabolic Syndrome In Young Korean Adults

Abstract

Sang-Koo Woo, Soo-Hyun Park, Tae-Kyung Han, Hyun-Sik Kang. Andong National University, Andong, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea Substantial evidence supports the use of CRF and physical activity as powerful predictors of health outcomes, including metabolic syndrome, among western populations. No such studies have been conducted in Asians including Koreans. PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between cardio/respiratory fitness (CRF) and metabolic syndrome (MS) in young Korean men. METHODS: In a cross-sectional study, we examined 909 young Korean men (mean±SD age, 24.0±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. RESULTS: Group analyses showed significant and inverse dose-response trends between the metabolic risk factors 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 MS than the high CRF group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that low CRF is significantly associated with elevated risk of MS independent of body fatness in young Korean men. Supported by the Korean Research Foundation funded by the Korean Government (KRF-2005-042-G00025)