title: The impact of 3-year changes in lifestyle habits on metabolic syndrome parameters: the D.E.S.I.R study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The effect of lifestyle changes in cohorts of free-living populations has been surprisingly little evaluated.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
authors.affiliation: INSERM U780-IFR69, Villejuif, France. balkau@vjf.inserm.fr
authors.forename: Beverley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Balkau
authors.forename: Emilie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vierron
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vernay
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Born
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Arondel
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Petrella
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ducimetiere
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*