Sedentary: prevalence and association of cardiovascular risk factors

Abstract

A sedentary lifestyle is defined as the absence or great reduction of physical activity. It is known that physical activity stimulates the function of the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscle skeletal systems, as well as promotes psychological motivation and sense of well being. It is considered the main risk factor for sudden death, and it is most often associated direct or indirectly, to cause or exacerbate the vast majority of diseases. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle and its association with other risk factors in employees, teachers and students at Universidade Estadual Paulista. We evaluated clinical and laboratory testing from August 2003 to May 2007 for 9867 people who attended a campaign of "Health Promotion and Disease Prevention". Data collection occurred for voluntary, every participant completed a questionnaire with personal data and epidemiological verified the weight, height, blood pressure and blood collected by finger prick to check the levels of glucose and total cholesterol. We considered sedentary those who did not perform regular physical activity for at least 30 minutes three times a week. Those who had abnormalities in the evaluations were told by nursing consultation and suggested to seek medical help. The prevalence of physical inactivity was 59.9% (57.4% students, 55.8% teachers, 65.4% and servers), 57% were men (p <0.05). There was a greater proportion of sedentary individuals aged 30 to 60 years compared with younger ones (p = 0,003). Association was observed in the sedentary group with a BMI equal to or greater than 30 kg/m2 (p = 0,000...). The values of total cholesterol and fasting glucose were higher among sedentary. The proportion of hypertensive patients was higher (p = 0.002) among the sedentary and smokers. It was observed that sedentary lifestyle is not only a personal risk of disease, but there is an economic cost to the individual, family and society. High percentage of sedentary, as found in our study was reported in other studies, varying according to the methodology used. All risk factors for cardiovascular diseases surveyed were more common in sedentary individuals. The development of health programs and campaigns involving the encouragement of regular physical activity for the entire population, surely will in the future, reduce the incidence of coronary heart disease and improve quality of life.