Abstract
In 875 predominantly white (89%), postmenopausal women, aged 45–-65 years, enrolled in the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions Trial, univariate analysis showed that mean total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B, and triglyceride (TG) levels were positively associated with age (p < 0.01) across 5-year age groups, whereas high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein A-I did not vary by age. HDL-C levels were positively associated with leisure time exercise level (p < 0.01), income (p < 0.01), alcohol intake (p < 0.01), and education level (p < 0.05). Current smokers have lower HDL-C levels than former smokers and those who never smoked (p < 0.01). TG levels were negatively associated with leisure time exercise (p < 0.01) and education (p < 0.01), and higher TG levels occurred in current smokers compared with former smokers and those who never smoked (p < 0.05). LDL-C showed no significant associations with these lifestyle variables. Increased adiposity, as determined by body mass index (BMI) or in body fat distribution as defined by waist/hip ratio (WHR), was significantly negatively associated with HDL-C levels and positively associated with total cholesterol, LDL-C, and TG. Multivariate models showed that 27% of the variance of log triglyceride was explained by WHR, BMI, and smoking, and 31% of the variance of HDL-C was explained by these factors plus alcohol and leisure time exercise.
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