Vigorous But Not Moderate Physical Activity Is Associated With Reduced Cardiovascular Disease Risk In Young Hispanic...

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend at least 150 min/week of moderate (MPA) to vigorous (VPA) physical activity to maintain health, regardless of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. This study assessed whether physical activity (PA) intensity distinguishes between low and high CVD risk in 196 lean and obese Hispanic men aged 18-40 from the Study of Male Reproductive Epigenomics. PA was measured for 7 days using triaxial accelerometry. The 30-year "full" Framingham Risk Score (FRS) was calculated. Diet quality was assessed using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2020). Mean age was 30 ± 5 years with a median FRS of 14% (range: 3% to 85%). The high-risk group (n = 89) had a mean full FRS of 20.3% ± 11.1%, compared to 7.0% ± 3.6% in the low-risk group (n = 107; p <0.001). Both groups met guideline-recommended PA levels. However, the low-risk group performed more VPA (25 ± 20 vs 12 ± 12 min/day; p <0.001). Logistic regressions showed that each additional 1 min/day of VPA reduced the odds of high CVD risk by 4.4% (p = 0.007), adjusted for smoking, diet, age and Body Mass Index (BMI), while MPA did not significantly predict CVD risk (p = 0.823). Stepwise regressions showed that smoking status, BMI, VPA, and diet explained 47.8% of FRS variance (p <0.001), while MPA was excluded. In conclusion, VPA, but not MPA, significantly distinguished low from high CVD risk in young Hispanic men, highlighting the potential role of higher-intensity exercise to reduce CVD risk in this population.