Cardiorespiratory fitness is inversely associated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome : A prospective study of men and women

Few studies have reported the relationship between cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome incidence, particularly in women. We prospectively studied 9007 men (mean+/-SD age, 44+/-9 years; body mass index, 25+/-3 kg/m2) and 1491 women (age, 44+/-9 years; body mass index, 22+/-2 kg/m2) who were free of metabolic syndrome and for whom measures of waist girth, resting blood pressure, fasting lipids, and glucose were taken during baseline and follow-up examinations. Baseline cardiorespiratory fitness was quantified as duration of a maximal treadmill test. Metabolic syndrome was defined with NCEP ATP-III criteria. During a mean follow-up of 5.7 years, 1346 men and 56 women developed metabolic syndrome. Age-adjusted incidence rates were significantly lower (linear trend, P