Associations of leisure‐time physical activity and obesity with atherogenic lipoprotein‐lipid markers among non‐smoking middle‐aged men

Abstract

The association of both leisure‐time physical activity and obesity with lipoprotein‐lipids and composite atherogenic markers were examined within a cross‐sectional study of middle‐aged men of higher socioeconomic status. Analyses were performed on a subsample (n=629) of non‐smoking, non‐diabetic men (46.7±7.8 years) who completed a preventive medical assessment between 1992 and 1996. Mean adjusted (age, body mass index (BMI), sum of skinfolds, fasting glucose, and logarithmic alcohol consumption) levels of high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol (HDL‐C) were significantly higher, and logarithmic triglycerides significantly lower, with higher physical activity index (PAI) categories (both PP=0.005 and PP=0.150). On stepwise multiple regression, logarithmic physical activity score and BMI explained 9.5–14% of the variance in the TC:HDL‐C and TG:HDL‐C ratios in models including age, body mass, sum of skinfolds, fasting glucose and logarithmic alcohol consumption. Age, sum of skinfolds and logarithmic alcohol consumption were significant predictors of non‐HDL‐C (r²=8.0%). These findings emphasise the importance of both physical activity and obesity in predicting lipoprotein‐lipid risk markers.