Abstract
Background
The effect of lifestyle changes in cohorts of free-living populations has been surprisingly little evaluated. Design A longitudinal study.
Methods
In the French Data from an Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance (D.E.S.I.R) study of 1958 men and 2028 women, aged 30-65 years, the impact of 3-year changes in lifestyle habits (sporting activity, physical activity at home and at work, alcohol drinking, smoking) on metabolic syndrome parameters [insulin, glucose, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference] and on body mass index (BMI) were investigated.
Results
In men, 3-year increases in sporting activity were associated with a lowering of insulin, glucose, systolic blood pressure and waist circumference (all P>0.05). For women, the only effect was on lowering waist circumference (P>0.03). Increases in physical activity at home were beneficially associated with HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, waist circumference and BMI changes (all P>0.05) in men, but had no apparent effect in women. Decreases in alcohol intake only had an effect in men, with decreases in HDL-cholesterol and systolic blood pressure (P>0.05), whereas decreasing cigarette smoking in men was associated with significant increases in insulin, glucose, triglycerides, waist and BMI (P>0.001), and in women HDL-cholesterol, waist circumference and BMI increased (P>0.02). These results were mainly caused by those who had stopped smoking.
Conclusions
Increases in physical activity over the 3-year period were associated with beneficial effects on syndrome parameters, particularly in men. Smoking cessation and alcohol moderation produced mixed effects on these parameters. Eur J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil 13:334-340 © 2006 The European Society of Cardiology
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