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Commuting, leisure-time physical activity, and cardiovascular risk factors in China
Gang Hu1, Heikki Pekkarinen, Osmo Hänninen
1Department of Physiology, University of Kuopio, Finland. hu@messi.uku.fi
Purpose:
The relationship between both commuting and leisure-time physical activity and selected cardiovascular risk factors was analyzed.
Methods:
A cross-sectional survey was carried out in 1996 in urban Tianjin, China. A total of 2002 male and 1974 female subjects aged 15-69 yr completed the survey. Commuting, leisure-time physical activity, body mass index, blood pressure, and cigarette smoking were determined.
Results:
Doing more than 60 min of commuting physical activity or combined commuting and leisure-time physical activity was related to the highest mean blood pressure and the highest prevalence of hypertension among both genders compared with going to and from work by bus; 31-60 min commuting only or commuting plus leisure-time physical activity was associated with the lowest mean blood pressure in women and the lowest prevalence of hypertension in both genders. Daily time on commuting or leisure-time physical activity was inversely related to mean body mass index and prevalence of overweight among men and prevalence of smoking among both genders.
Conclusion:
The present study suggests that commuting and leisure-time physical activity were favorably associated with cardiovascular risk factors in this Chinese population, except that more than 60 min of physical activity was associated with high blood pressure.