Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Nov 21;12(11):e0188533.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0188533. eCollection 2017.

Combined effects of fruit and vegetables intake and physical activity on the risk of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults

Xin-Tong Li  1 , Wei Liao  1   2 , Hong-Jie Yu  1 , Ming-Wei Liu  1 , Shuai Yuan  1 , Bo-Wen Tang  1 , Xu-Hao Yang  1 , Yong Song  1 , Yao Huang  1 , Shi-le Cheng  3 , Zhi-Yu Chen  1 , Samuel D Towne Jr  4 , Zong-Fu Mao  1 , Qi-Qiang He  1
Affiliations

Combined effects of fruit and vegetables intake and physical activity on the risk of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adults

Xin-Tong Li et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Unbalanced dietary intake and insufficient physical activity (PA) have been recognized as risk factors for metabolic syndrome (MetS). We aimed to examine the independent and combined effects of fruit and vegetables (FV) intake and PA on MetS.

Methods and findings: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among residents of China in 2009, with fasting blood samples collected. Participants were divided into sufficient/insufficient FV intake and adequate/ inadequate PA groups according to self-reported questionnaires. MetS was defined using the NCEP-ATPIII criteria. The difference of individual MetS components was compared across different PA or FV groups. Multivariable logistic regression was used to assess association between FV/PA and the risk of MetS. A total of 7424 adults were included in the current study. MetS was prevalent in 28.7% of participants, with 24.7% and 32.9% in male and female, respectively. Compared with those with inadequate PA and insufficient FV intake, participants with the combination of adequate PA and sufficient FV intake had the lowest risk of MetS (OR = 0.69,95%CI: 0.59-0.82), following by the group with adequate PA time but insufficient FV intake (OR = 0.74, 95%CI:0.65-0.83).

Conclusion: Findings of the current study show that the combination of sufficient FV intake and adequate PA was significantly associated with reduced MetS risk among adult residents of China.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Nestel P, Lyu R, Low LP, Sheu WH, Nitiyanant W, Saito I, et al. Metabolic syndrome: recent prevalence in East and Southeast Asian populations. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16(2):362–7. . - PubMed
    1. Grundy SM. Metabolic syndrome pandemic. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2008;28(4):629–36. doi: 10.1161/ATVBAHA.107.151092 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Calton EK, James AP, Pannu PK, Soares MJ. Certain dietary patterns are beneficial for the metabolic syndrome: reviewing the evidence. Nutrition research (New York, NY). 2014;34(7):559–68. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2014.06.012 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Xu SH, Qiao N, Huang JJ, Sun CM, Cui Y, Tian SS, et al. Gender Differences in Dietary Patterns and Their Association with the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Chinese: A Cross-Sectional Study. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):180 doi: 10.3390/nu8040180 . - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shin JY, Kim JY, Kang HT, Han KH, Shim JY. Effect of fruits and vegetables on metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2015;66(4):416–25. PubMed PMID: WOS:000359997000010. doi: 10.3109/09637486.2015.1025716 - DOI - PubMed