Survey physical activity level, nutritional habits and prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Rasht municipal employees

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Rasht municipal employees and compare the level of physical activity (PA), metabolic risk factors and their eating habits with non-MetS employees.

1007 employees participated in this study (age: 43.3±9.2 years, 800 men, 207 women) and their height, weight, body mass index, fat percentage, waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure were measured. Beack questionnaire and a national standard questionnaire were used to assess the level of PA and eating habits, respectively. The MetS was diagnosed using the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) index. Kruskal-Wallis and Yeoman-Whitney tests were used to analyze the data at a significance level of P<0.05.

Based on the results, 18.4% of employees had MetS and 58.3% of them had low levels of PA. Chi-squared test showed a significant relationship between the level of PA and the prevalence of MetS (X2=10.4, P=0.005), so that the percentage of employees with MetS at the high, moderate and low level of PA was 10.4, 15.4 and 21.5, respectively. Also high level of PA, TG and HDL levels in male, WC in female, and FBS in both sexes were not different from non-MetS employees (P<0.05); while these factors at the moderate and low level of PA were significantly different (P<0.05). The MetS was inversely associated with weekly consumption of fruits and fish (P<0.05) and was directly associated with consumption of fried foods in three daily meals (P<0.01).

The risk of the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is lower in employees who have a higher level of physical activity, and having a high level of physical activity can be an effective solution in controlling some components of metabolic syndrome, such as TG, FBS, and WC. Also, in addition to improving the level of physical activity, increasing the consumption of fruits and fish can be effective in reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome among employees.