Abstract
PurposeTo measure the association between physical activity and the metabolic syndrome risk in Mexican-Americans.MethodsParticipants were drawn from the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort (n = 3,414), a randomly selected Mexican-American cohort in Texas on the US-Mexico border. Moderate and vigorous physical activity was assessed using reliable and validated instruments. The metabolic syndrome was defined as having 3 or more metabolic abnormalities.ResultsOne thousand five hundred and twenty-four participants of the cohort (45.02%) were found to have the metabolic syndrome. Compared to participants who did not meet US physical activity guidelines, participants who met physical activity guidelines of 150 moderate and vigorous minutes per week (≥ 600 MET adjusted minutes) had 36% lower risk for the metabolic syndrome (OR = 0.64; 95% CI: 0.42–0.98), and participants with total minutes per week of moderate and vigorous/strenuous activity greater than 743 MET adjusted minutes had 37% lower risk for the metabolic syndrome (OR = 0.63; 95% CI: 0.42–0.94) compared with their counterparts, after adjusting for age, gender, annual household income, body mass index, smoking and alcohol drinking status, total portions of fruit and vegetable intake, census tracts and blocks, and survey version for physical activity.ConclusionsMeeting or exceeding physical activity guidelines significantly was inversely associated with the risk for the metabolic syndrome in Mexican-Americans. Improving levels of physical activity appears to be an effective target for the metabolic syndrome prevention and control among Mexican-Americans independent of other factors.
Highlights
The metabolic syndrome is a major public health problem worldwide[1]
Compared to participants who did not meet US physical activity guidelines, participants who met physical activity guidelines of 150 moderate and vigorous minutes per week ( 600 metabolic equivalent (MET) adjusted minutes) had 36% lower risk for the metabolic syndrome (OR = 0.64; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42–0.98), and participants with total minutes per week of moderate and vigorous/strenuous activity greater than 743 MET adjusted minutes had 37% lower risk for the metabolic syndrome (OR = 0.63; 95% CI: 0.42–0.94) compared with their counterparts, after adjusting for age, gender, annual household income, body mass index, smoking and alcohol drinking status, total portions of fruit and vegetable intake, census tracts and blocks, and survey version for physical activity
Meeting or exceeding physical activity guidelines significantly was inversely associated with the risk for the metabolic syndrome in Mexican-Americans
Summary
The metabolic syndrome is a major public health problem worldwide[1]. The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a clustering of risk factors, including obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hyperinsulinemia [2,3]. It is widely accepted that the metabolic syndrome has an important mediating role in the increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes[2,3,5]. One meta-analysis pooling prospective cohort studies evaluated the association between physical activity and risk of the metabolic syndrome[8]. Compared with low level leisure time physical activity, Americans with high level leisure time physical activity did not significantly reduce the risk of the metabolic syndrome (all 95% CIs for each individual study across 1) based on four studies from the USA included into the metaanalysis [8]. One study conducted in Mexicans [9] reported the reduced risk of the metabolic syndrome from physical activity in Mexico, but not in Mexican-Americans in the US. The objective of this study was to explore the effect of physical activity on metabolic syndrome risk in a randomly selected cohort of Mexican-American subjects
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