Adolescents with metabolic syndrome have a history of low aerobic fitness and physical activity levels

Robert G McMurray¹ , Shrikant I Bangdiwala² , Joanne S Harrell³ and Leila D Amorim²

¹Departments of Exercise & Sport Science, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

²Department of Biostatistics, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

³School of Nursing, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

author email corresponding author email

Dynamic Medicine 2008, 7:5doi:10.1186/1476-5918-7-5


Published:	4 April 2008

Abstract

Purpose

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a clustering of cardiovascular disease risk factors that identifies individuals with the highest risk for heart disease. Two factors that may influence the MS are physical activity and aerobic fitness. This study determined if adolescent with the MS had low levels of aerobic fitness and physical activity as children.

Methods

This longitudinal, exploratory study had 389 participants: 51% girls, 84% Caucasian, 12% African American, 1% Hispanic, and 3% other races, from the State of North Carolina. Habitual physical activity (PA survey), aerobic fitness (VO₂max), body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, and lipids obtained at 7–10 y of age were compared to their results obtained 7 y later at ages 14–17 y.

Results

Eighteen adolescents (4.6%) developed 3 or more characteristics of the MS. Logistic regression, adjusting for BMI percentile, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels, found that adolescents with the MS were 6.08 (95%CI = 1.18–60.08) times more likely to have low aerobic fitness as children and 5.16 (95%CI = 1.06–49.66) times more likely to have low PA levels.

Conclusion

Low levels of childhood physical activity and aerobic fitness are associated with the presence of the metabolic syndrome in adolescents. Thus, efforts need to begin early in childhood to increase exercise.