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Metabolic syndrome risk may be determined with weight, exercise
Overweight and obesity, lack of exercise, less education and low income all increase the risk for metabolic syndrome in women at midlife.
“As women make the transition from regular cycles through the transition to menopause and after, it is more difficult to maintain a healthy weight, not just because of hormonal changes but also because of aging, less muscle mass and life stressors, too,” JoAnn V. Pinkerton, MD, executive director of the North American Menopause Society, said in a press release. “This study underscores how important it is to work hard to stave off weight gain as much as possible.”
Gihong Yi, PhD, of the department of sociology at Hallym University in Korea, and colleagues evaluated data from the Korean Genetic Epidemiologic Survey Community cohort on 1,228 healthy women aged 45 to 55 years who were not taking hormonal therapy to determine the role of social determinants and changes in lifestyle in metabolic risk during menopause. Researchers collected data at baseline, 2-year follow-up and 4-year follow-up.
At the 4-year follow-up, 44.87% of participants were premenopausal, 25.65% were perimenopausal and 29.48% were postmenopausal. Thirteen percent of participants met criteria for metabolic syndrome at baseline; this increased to 14.4% at the 4-year follow-up.
A trend for a decreased risk for metabolic syndrome was found at the 2-year follow-up, but an increased risk was found at the 4-year follow-up; neither was significant. The risk for metabolic syndrome was decreased by 24% among participants who continued to menstruate at the 2-year follow-up (P = .044).
The risk for metabolic syndrome was 1.38 times higher in participants with an education of less than 10 years and 1.6 to 1.7 times greater in those with lower income compared with those with higher education and income, respectively. Compared with participants with normal BMI, the risk for metabolic syndrome was four times greater in those with overweight and 12 times greater in those with obesity. A 1.55 times higher risk was found in participants who reported no exercise compared with those with high levels of exercise.
“In this study, in women who continued to menstruate as well as those who became postmenopausal, [metabolic syndrome] risk increased with socioeconomic disadvantage,” the researchers wrote. “This underscores the importance of policy measures that are sensitive to the health needs of economically disadvantaged women. Such supportive policy would be beneficial if incorporating women starting in early adulthood, regardless of menopausal status.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.