Association of physical activity and sedentary lifestyle patterns with obesity and cardiometabolic comorbidities in Greek adults: data from the National Epidemiological Survey.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the association between physical activity (PA) and sedentary lifestyle (SL) patterns with overweight (OW), obesity (OB), abdominal obesity (AO) and cardiometabolic comorbidities in Greek adults based on data from the National Epidemiological Survey for the prevalence of obesity.


METHODS
Cross-sectional epidemiological survey. Participants were selected via stratified sampling. 17,887 men and women, 20-70 years old, underwent anthropometric measurements for the estimation of OW, OB and AO prevalence. Assessment of PA, SL patterns and metabolic comorbidities was performed using an in-home questionnaire allowing self-evaluation of diverse activities and self-report for the presence of hypercholesterolemia (HCE), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) or hypertension (HTN).


RESULTS
In men, even small amounts of walking were associated with decreased risk of being OW and AO, while larger amounts were associated with decreased risk of being OB. In women, engagement in entertainment activities for more than 4 hours per week was associated with less risk of being OW. Concerning cardiometabolic comorbidities, substantial improvement was evident mainly for men, e.g. signfiicantly reduced risk for HCE, T2DM and HTN by frequent engagement in exercise. On the other hand, frequent TV watching and long hours of office work significantly increased the risk of HCE and HTN in men.


CONCLUSIONS
In Greek adults, and men in particular, walking activity was significantly associated with lower risk for obesity. In addition, frequent exercise and less sedentary behaviour were associated with reduced risk for cardiometabolic factors, mainly hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.
Hellenic Medical Association for Obesity (HMAO), Athens, Greece.
Maria
M
Hassapidou
Sousana K
SK
Papadopoulou
George
G
Vlahavas
Efthymios
E
Kapantais
Daphne
D
Kaklamanou
Ioannis
I
Pagkalos
Myrto
M
Kaklamanou
Themistoklis
T
Tzotzas
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior / Q000208:ethnology; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult