Volume 90, Issue 2, August (2003), pp. 431-440 © The Author 2003
doi:10.1079/BJN2003899

Medline/PubMed Citation | Related Articles in PubMed | Download to Citation Matcher  

Relationship between body mass index, serum cholesterol, leisure-time physical activity, and diet in a Mediterranean Southern-Europe population

Helmut Schröder^1,2, Jaume Marrugat¹, Roberto Elosua¹, Maribel I. Covas¹ for the REGICOR Investigators
¹Lipids and Cardiovascular Epidemiology Unit, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, IMIM, c/ Doctor Aiguder 80, 08003 , Barcelona, Spain
²Department of Nutrition, Sports Medicine Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

 (Received 18 September 2002–Revised 11 February 2003–Accepted 22 March 2003)

The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship of BMI with other cardiovascular risk factors, leisure-time physical activity and diet. Participants were recruited in a cross-sectional population-based survey in a southern-Europe Mediterranean population (Spain); cardiovascular risk factors were measured, and leisure-time physical activity and diet intake were evaluated. Linear regression analysis adjusted for several confounders showed a significant, direct association of BMI and total cholesterol (P<0·005) and LDL-cholesterol (P<0·006), in men. HDL-cholesterol was inversely related to BMI in both sexes (P<0·0001). Higher BMI was more frequent in less-active men (P<0·04) but not in women. BMI increased significantly (P<0·0001) by 1·92 kg/m² with each 4·18 MJ consumed in men but not in women. Dietary intakes of carbohydrate (P<0·03), total fat (P<0·03) and saturated fatty acids (P<0·02) were directly associated with BMI in men but not in women, in whom protein intake was correlated (P<0·001) with BMI. Linear regression models including dietary components explained up to 10·6 and 21·1 % of BMI variability in men and women, respectively. Sex differences in the association of BMI with total cholesterol, and LDL-cholesterol, may account for the lower risk for CHD in women compared with men of similar BMI reported in the literature for the southern-Europe Mediterranean region. An increases of BMI may be more deleterious in populations in which it is accompanied by other risk factors such as a higher intake of total fat and, particularly, of saturated fatty acids, or lower leisure-time physical activity.

Keywords:
Body mass index, Nutrient intake, Coronary heart disease, Leisure-time physical activity