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Relationship between body mass index, serum cholesterol, leisure-time physical activity, and diet in a Mediterranean Southern-Europe population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

Helmut Schröder ,
Jaume Marrugat ,
Roberto Elosua  and
Maribel I. Covas
Helmut Schröder*
Affiliation:
Lipids and Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMIM, c/Doctor Aiguder 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Department of Nutrition, Sports Medicine Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Jaume Marrugat
Affiliation:
Lipids and Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMIM, c/Doctor Aiguder 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Roberto Elosua
Affiliation:
Lipids and Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMIM, c/Doctor Aiguder 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
Maribel I. Covas
Affiliation:
Lipids and Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMIM, c/Doctor Aiguder 80, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
*
*Corresponding author: Dr Helmut Schröder, fax +34 93 2213237, email hschroeder@imim.es
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Abstract

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The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship of BMI with other cardiovascular risk factors, leisure-time physical activity and diet. Participants were recruited in a cross-sectional population-based survey in a southern-Europe Mediterranean population (Spain); cardiovascular risk factors were measured, and leisure-time physical activity and diet intake were evaluated. Linear regression analysis adjusted for several confounders showed a significant, direct association of BMI and total cholesterol (P<0·005) and LDL-cholesterol (P<0·006), in men. HDL-cholesterol was inversely related to BMI in both sexes (P<0·0001). Higher BMI was more frequent in less-active men (P<0·04) but not in women. BMI increased significantly (P<0·0001) by 1·92 kg/m2 with each 4·18 MJ consumed in men but not in women. Dietary intakes of carbohydrate (P<0·03), total fat (P<0·03) and saturated fatty acids (P<0·02) were directly associated with BMI in men but not in women, in whom protein intake was correlated (P<0·001) with BMI. Linear regression models including dietary components explained up to 10·6 and 21·1 % of BMI variability in men and women, respectively. Sex differences in the association of BMI with total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol, may account for the lower risk for CHD in women compared with men of similar BMI reported in the literature for the southern-Europe Mediterranean region. An increases of BMI may be more deleterious in populations in which it is accompanied by other risk factors such as a higher intake of total fat and, particularly, of saturated fatty acids, or lower leisure-time physical activity.

Keywords

Body mass indexNutrient intakeCoronary heart diseaseLeisure-time physical activity
Type
Research Article
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 90 , Issue 2 , August 2003 , pp. 431 - 439
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 2003

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