Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours are Associated with Lower Probability of Having Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors

• Main Authors: M Akbartabartoori, CR Hankey, MEJ Lean
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2005-10-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Public Health
• Subjects: Fibrinogen
• Online Access: http://journals.tums.ac.ir/PdfMed.aspx?pdf_med=/upload_files/pdf/2508.pdf&manuscript_id=2508

Healthy lifestyle behaviors are associated with lower risk of having cardiovascular disease (CVD). There is a cluster of risk factors that predisposes people to CVD. Overweight/obesity, unhealthy diet, inactivity, and smoking are major lifestyle risk factors for CVD, which are also associated with other potent clinical risk factors including raised plasma lipids, coagulation factors and measures of inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the association between lifestyle factors and some established clinical cardiovascular risk factors: C-reactive protein (CRP), total cholesterol, HDL-C, non-HDL-C and fibrinogen in Scottish adults with a high prevalence of CVD. Cross-sectional data from 5460 participants aged 16-74 years whom had valid biochemical measurements in the Scottish Health Survey (SHS) 1998 were analysed. Trained staff obtained anthropometric measures. Levels of physical activity, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake and dietary habits were measured by questionnaires. Non-HDL-C was calculated by subtracting HDL-C from total cholesterol. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS with different statistical tests. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI) was significantly associated with all risk factors in both sexes as obese subjects had the highest concentrations of CRP, total and non-HDL-C and fibrinogen, and the lowest concentrations of HDL-C (P 4 mmol/l and HDL-c ≤ 1 mmol/l for obese subjects compared with BMI<25 kg/m² were 4.8, 2.2, 4.8, 3.6 respectively. These figures for current smokers compared with non-smokers were 2.0, 2.1 2, and 1.5 respectively (P< 0.01). After BMI and smoking, physical activity was most important factor that showed significant association with CRP, fibrinogen and HDL-C. Total fruit and vegetable consumption had a significant association with CRP, and alcohol intake with HDL-C. Overweight/obesity, cigarette smoking and physical inactivity were the main independent variables associated with the clinical CVD risk factors. They increase serum concentrations of CRP, fibrinogen, and plasma non-HDL-C and decrease HDL-C. These results suggest that lifestyle factors are important for modifying CVD risk and adopting healthy behaviors are beneficial.