Physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors among chilean young men and women Actividad física y su asociación con factores de riesgo cardiovascular. un estudio en adultos jóvenes

Abstract

Background: Physical activity (PA) has a protective role in cardiovascular diseases. Aim: To quantify PA in young adults and to correlate it with cardiovascular risk factors. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed employing the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), to measure the PA of 983 randomly selected young adults from Valparaiso region born between 1974 and 1978. Its results were associated with levels of obesity, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP- ATP III) Results: Mean physical activity among men and women was 3731 ± 3923 and 1360 ± 2303 METs-minutes/week, respectively (p < 0.001). Fifty percent of women and 21.5% of men had an insufficient level of physical activity (p < 0.001). Sixty percent of men and 23.4% of women had an intense level of physical activity (p < 0.001). There was an inverse association of physical activity and insulin r