Changes in Leisure Time Physical Activity and High-Density Cholesterol Levels Among White and African American Women

Abstract

The objective was to assess the effect of changes in leisure time physical activity on high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels among community-based participants. Data from a randomly selected cohort were obtained in 1987, with follow-up measurements in 1991. Two medium-sized South Carolina communities were study sites. The study population included women participants of the 1987 survey and assessment who were available for follow-up measurements in 1991, including 1,003 white and 348 African American women aged 18–89 years. Changes in HDL-C levels in four leisure time physical activity groups, adjusting for age, education, body composition, baseline HDL-C levels, and cigarette smoking status, were measured. Overall, over the 4-year period, mean HDL-C levels increased among women in both age groups, but this change was significant only among women age 50 and older. However, HDL-C increases for inactive women who increased their reported physical activity level at the time of the follow-up survey were found only among white women. Among African American women, changes in HDL-C levels did not appear to be associated with changes in leisure time physical activity. These results support other work that suggests that factors other than physical activity and the covariates in the adjusted model were responsible for the increases in HDL-C levels in these women.