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. 2010 Jan-Feb;24(3):161-9.
doi: 10.4278/ajhp.08051151.

Associations between patterns of objectively measured physical activity and risk factors for the metabolic syndrome

Jesse S Metzger  1 , Diane J Catellier, Kelly R Evenson, Margarita S Treuth, Wayne D Rosamond, Anna Maria Siega-Riz
Affiliations

Associations between patterns of objectively measured physical activity and risk factors for the metabolic syndrome

Jesse S Metzger et al. Am J Health Promot. 2010 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: To determine whether certain patterns of objectively measured physical activity (PA) are associated with the risk factors for or the diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome (MS).

Design: Latent class analysis, including assessment of the associations between latent PA classes and risk factors for the MS.

Setting: Random sample from throughout the United States using data from the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Subjects: A total of 3458 civilian adult noninstitutionalized U.S. citizens.

Measures: Daily minutes of moderate-to-vigorous PA across a 7-day week based on accelerometer measurements, as well as high blood pressure, blood glucose levels, triglyceride levels, and body mass index, along with low levels of high density lipoproteins, using clinical cut points.

Results: Membership in the more active PA classes was consistently associated with lower odds of all risk factors for the MS. However, when participants were categorized into quartiles of the coefficients of variation of PA across 7 days, few differences were seen in any of the risk factors.

Conclusions: Accumulating the total weekly recommended amount of PA is consistently associated with positive health profiles, and more PA than the recommended amounts may be even better. However, the manner in which this activity is accumulated, either spread over most days of the week or compressed into just a couple of days, may have similar associations with the risk factors for the MS.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structural Equation Model for the Prediction of The Latent Classes of Physical Activity as Well as the Associations Between The Latent Classes and the Risk Factors.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Five-Class Latent Class Analysis for Entire Study Population in Which Body Mass Index, High Density Lipoprotein Level, and Blood Pressure Were Available.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Five-Class Latent Class Analysis for the Subset of the Population in Which Triglycerides and Fasting Blood Glucose Levels Were Recorded During the Morning Interview.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Odds Ratios and 95% Confidence Intervals for Each of the Risk Factors, Comparing the Four More Active Classes With the Least Active Class (Class One). * Blood glucose and triglycerides were only collected during the morning session of the physical exam, so these analyses represent a subset of the final study population. + For fasting blood glucose, no participants had elevated levels in classes three and five; therefore, the odds ratios were zero. No participants had the metabolic syndrome in class three. ^ Analysis represents a subset of the final study population among those with all nonmissing risk factors.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Odds Ratios And 95% Confidence Intervals for the Secondary Analysis of the Risk Factors, Comparing the Three Higher Quartiles of The Coefficients of Variation With the Lowest Quartile of the Coefficient of Variation Among Study Participants Who Achieved at Least 150 Minutes of Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity During the 7 Days. * Blood Glucose and Triglycerides were only collected during the morning session of the physical exam, so these analyses represent a subset of the final study population. + Analysis represents a subset of the final study population among those with all non-missing risk factors.
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