title: [Physical activity and cardiovascular risk factors among Chilean young men and women].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Physical activity (PA) has a protective role in cardiovascular diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To quantify PA in young adults and to correlate it with cardiovascular risk factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed employing the international physical activity questionnaire (IPAQ), to measure the PA of 983 randomly selected young adults from Valparaiso region born between 1974 and 1978. Its results were associated with levels of obesity, insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk factors defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program-Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP- ATP III) RESULTS: Mean physical activity among men and women was 3731 ± 3923 and 1360 ± 2303 METs-minutes/week, respectively (p < 0.001). Fifty percent of women and 21.5% of men had an insufficient level of physical activity (p < 0.001). Sixty percent of men and 23.4% of women had an intense level of physical activity (p < 0.001). There was an inverse association of physical activity and insulin resistance. A high physical activity was protective, specially among men, against a low HDL cholesterol level and high triglyceride levels with Odds Ratios of 0.59 (confidence interval (CI): 0,35-0.98) and 0.49 (CI: 0,27-0,87) respectively, after adjusting for body mass index and age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this sample, men had higher levels of physical activity, that was protective against insulin resistance and the presence of cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Nutrición, Diabetes y Metabolismo, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile. aarteaga@med.puc.cl
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arteaga
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bustos
authors.forename: Rodrigo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Velasco
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Amigo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control*; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL