title: Commuting physical activity and prevalence of metabolic disorders in Poland.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between walking or cycling to work and prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional analysis of 6401 randomly selected individuals (3297 men and 3104 women) aged 20-74 years, who participated in the National Multicentre Health Survey WOBASZ, Poland (2002-2005). Commuting physical activity (PA) was assessed by asking about type and time spent on transportation to/from work using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Weight, height, waist circumference (WC), blood pressure (BP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglycerides (TG) and high-density cholesterol, (HDL-C) were measured by standard methods. MetS was defined according to the NCEP-ATP III and IDF criteria.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Active commuting was associated with decreased likelihood of abdominal obesity (WC≥94 cm), lower HDL-C and elevated TG in men and abdominal obesity (WC≥80 cm) in women. In a subgroup of postmenopausal women (n=317) active commuting was favourably associated with abdominal obesity, low HDL-C and elevated FPG. Prevalence of MetS was significantly lower among those who spent above 30 min/day daily on walking/cycling to work than among other gender subgroups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing of commuting PA level may have an important influence on reducing the prevalence of metabolic disorders.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, Medical University of Łódź, Poland. magdalena.kwasniewska@umed.lodz.pl
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kwaśniewska
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kaczmarczyk-Chałas
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pikala
authors.forename: Grażyna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Broda
authors.forename: Krystyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kozakiewicz
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pająk
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tykarski
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zdrojewski
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Drygas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001642:Bicycling; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014186:Transportation / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016138:Walking; D055815:Young Adult