Background Physical activity (PA) is associated with a favorable metabolic risk profile in adults. However, its role in adolescents remains unclear. In this study, using data (2019–2021) from the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, we investigated the optimal exercise type for preventing metabolic complications in adolescents.
Methods A total of 1,222 eligible adolescent participants (12–18-year-old) were divided into four groups as follows: aerobic exercise (AE), resistance exercise (RE), combined aerobic and resistance exercise (CE), and no exercise (NE). Daily PA was assessed using the international PA questionnaire. Blood samples were collected to measure lipid, glucose, and insulin levels. Additionally, the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and triglyceride-glucose (TyG) indices were measured. Multivariate regression analysis was used to compare the metabolic risk factors across the PA groups before and after propensity score matching (PSM) adjustment for confounding variables.
Results The CE group exhibited improved fasting glucose levels, lower TyG index, reduced white blood cell count, and higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels than the NE group. The RE group exhibited lower mean blood pressure, triglyceride, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, TyG index and a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome than the NE group. The AE group had higher total and HDL cholesterol levels. In detailed comparison of the AE and RE groups, the RE group consistently exhibited favorable metabolic parameters, including lower blood pressure and total and low-density cholesterol levels, which persisted after PSM.
Conclusion These findings highlight the positive effects of PA on cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents. Thus, RE may have a more favorable metabolic effect than AE. Further studies are needed to validate the benefits of exercise according to the exercise type.
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Background The definition of sarcopenia focuses on muscle mass and function. Sarcopenic obesity is the relative excess of fat tissue with decreased muscle mass. We examined the association between cigarette smoking and sarcopenia according to obesity in middle-aged and elderly Koreans.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study of 9,385 subjects (age ≥50 years) based on data from the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2008–2011). Smoking groups were categorized by smoking status and the number of cigarettes smoked daily. Sarcopenia was defined as weight-adjusted appendicular skeletal muscle mass of 2 standard deviations below the sex-specific mean for young adults. Obesity was defined as fat mass ≥30% for men and ≥40% for women. Subjects were categorized into three groups: sarcopenic obese (SO), sarcopenic non-obese (SNO), and normal. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the association between smoking and SNO and SO.
Results Among men, current smokers were more associated with SNO than never-smokers (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 3.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09–10.26). However, there was no significant association between smoking status and SNO in women or SO in either sex. Among current smokers, moderate smokers (11–20 cigarettes/d) were more likely to be SNO (adjusted OR, 5.81; 95% CI, 1.12–30.31) and heavy smokers (>20 cigarettes/d) were more likely to be SO (adjusted OR, 9.53; 95% CI, 1.65–55.01) than light smokers (<11 cigarettes/d).
Conclusion In men, smoking was positively associated with SNO, and heavy smokers were more likely to be SO than light smokers.
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