Table 2.
Sampling of studies assessing the association between cardiorespiratory fitness and the metabolic syndrome.
| Author, Year; (Reference) | N (Men/Women) | Key Results |
|---|---|---|
| Carnethon, 2003; [49] | 4487 (2029/2458) | Only men and women in the highest 40% of maximal treadmill performance were protected against developing MetSyn. |
| Franks, 2004; [50] | 847 men | A strong inverse association between physical activity and MetSyn. The magnitude of the association between physical activity and the MetSyn was >3-fold greater than for VO2max. |
| LaMonte, 2005; [46] | 10,498 (9007/1491) | An independent and progressive decline in the risk of developing MetSyn with higher CRF for men and women. Also, 20% to 26% lower risks occurred among participants with moderate CRF and 53% to 63% lower risks observed in highest CRF categories vs. the lowest CRF category. |
| Hassinen, 2008; [44] | 1347 (671/676) | Men and women in the lowest third of VO2max had 10.2 times (men) and 10.8 times (women) higher risk of having MetSyn than those in the highest VO2max category. |
| Hassinen, 2010; [48] | 1226 (589/637) | Risk of developing MetSyn within 2 years of follow-up was 44% lower for each 1-SD increase in VO2 max. Each 1-SD higher VO2 max from baseline resulted in 1.8 times higher likelihood to resolve MetSyn during 2 years of follow-up. |
| Earnest, 2013; [51] | 38,659 (30,927/7732) | CRF demonstrated a strong inverse relationship with MetSyn in both genders. The association was strongest in those with lower waist circumference and fasting glucose, in both genders. |
| Adams-Campbell, 2016; [47] | 170 women | CRF was inversely related to the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in overweight/obese African-American postmenopausal women. |
| Ingle, 2017; [52] | 9666 men | The likelihood of developing MetSyn was approximately 50% lower in fit men compared to unfit, independent of BMI particularly in men <50 years. |
| Kelly, 2018; [45] | 3636 (2007/1629) | Significant, inverse and graded association between VO2max and MetSyn. Highest fit had >20 times lower risk of having MetSyn compared to least-fit individuals. The difference in VO2max between those with MetSyn and those without was ≈ 2.5 METs. |
CRF—cardiorespiratory fitness; BMI—body mass index; MetSyn—metabolic syndrome; METS—metabolic equivalents.