Joint association of aerobic physical activity and muscle-strengthening activities with metabolic syndrome : the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2014-2015

The study aimed to examine whether simultaneously meeting the combined guidelines of accelerometer-assessed moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and self-reported muscle-strengthening activity (MSA) was associated with lower odds of metabolic syndrome (MetS) than meeting neither or 1 of the guidelines among the Koreans. This cross-sectional analysis included 1,355 participants from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2014-2015). Logistic regression was used to analyze the associations across groups of MVPA-MSA guideline adherence (meeting neither [reference]; meeting MVPA only; meeting MSA only; meeting both MVPS and MSA) with MetS components (abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], hypertension, and hyperglycemia). The odds ratios (ORs) were adjusted for covariates (e.g., sex, age, body mass index, and accelerometer wearing time). MSA only significantly reduced the OR for abdominal obesity (OR, 0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.13 to 0.91). Meeting both MVPA and MSA reduced the OR for hypertriglyceridemia (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.39 to 0.88) and low HDL-C (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.31 to 0.68). Compared to meeting neither, MVPA only (OR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.89) and both MVPA and MSA (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.28 to 0.76) significantly reduced the OR for MetS. Combined MVPA-MSA was more beneficially associated with MetS prevalence than MVPA only and MSA only. Considering that more than 85% of Korean adults do not meet both the MVPA and MSA guidelines, public health actions to promote adherence should be supported.