Table 1.
Sampling of studies assessing the impact of physical activity patterns or exercise intervention on the metabolic syndrome.
| Observational Studies | |||
| Author, Year; (Reference) |
N (Men/Women),
Mean Age |
Assessment | Key Results |
| Thune, 1998; [25] | 5220/5869 34.4 and 33.7 years, respectively |
PA self-report | Higher PA associated with better lipid profile, overall metabolic risk profile over 7 years |
| Laaksonen, 2002; [26] | 612 men 51.4 years |
Assessment of LTPA over previous 12 months among high risk men; followed for 4 years | >3 h/week moderate to vigorous LTPA half as likely as sedentary men to have MetSyn Men in top 33% VO2max 75% less likely than unfit men to develop MetSyn over 4 years |
| Sisson, 2010; [27] | 697/749 47.5 years |
Accelerometry | MetS prevalence decreased as steps/day increased; odds of having MetSyn were 10% lower for each additional 1000 steps/day |
| Healy, 2008; [28] | 67/102 53.4 years |
Accelerometer evaluation of time spent in sedentary, light, moderate-to-vigorous, and mean activity intensity in participants with diabetes and obesity | Moderate-to-vigorous activity associated with lower triglycerides. Sedentary time, light-intensity time, and exercise intensity associated with waist circumference and clustered metabolic risk |
| Ekelund, 2007; [29] | 103/155 40.8 years |
Accelerometry, exercise test, biometric measures on adults with a family history of type 2 diabetes | Total body movement inversely associated with triglycerides, insulin, HDL and clustered metabolic risk; moderate-and vigorous-intensity PA inversely associated with clustered metabolic risk |
| Exercise Intervention Studies | |||
| Author, Year | N | Intervention | Key Results |
| Look AHEAD, 2013; [30] | 3063/2082 58.8 years |
Subjects with type 2 diabetes randomly assigned to intensive lifestyle intervention or diabetes support and education | Intervention group had greater reductions in weight loss, glycated hemoglobin and greater initial improvements in exercise capacity and all cardiovascular risk factors (except LDL) |
| Stewart, 2004; [31] | 53/62 63.6 years |
6 months of exercise training in subjects with or at high risk for MetSyn | Exercise group improved peak VO2, muscle strength, and lean body mass; reductions in total and abdominal fat related to improved CVD risk |
| Katzmarzyk, 2003; [32] | 288/333 31.6 |
20 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise training | Of 105 patients with MetSyn, 30.5% were no longer classified as having metabolic syndrome after exercise training |
| Balducci, 2008; [33] | 329/234 | Twice weekly aerobic & resistance training for 1 year | Exercise group improved fitness, HbA1c, and CVD risk profile |
| Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group, 2002; [34] | 3234 50.6 |
Lifestyle intervention (150 min/week PA and nutritional counseling) vs. Metformin vs. placebo | Lifestyle intervention group achieved a 38% reversal of MetSyn and a 41% reduction of new onset MetSyn. |
PA—physical activity; LTPA—leisure time physical activity; MetSyn—metabolic syndrome; HDL—high density lipoprotein; LDL—high density lipoprotein; CVD—cardiovascular disease; HbA1c—glycated hemoglobin.