the term  metabolic syndrome  refers to the simultaneous onset and progression of factors 
 known to trigger atherosclerosis , such as obesity , dyslipidemia , hypertension , impaired 
 fasting glucose , and impaired glucose tolerance1 , 
 2 . for example , it has been shown that the risks 
 of cardiac disease and type 2 diabetes and their mortality rates increase when metabolic 
 syndrome is present3,4,5 . physical inactivity and sedentary behavior as daily habits are considered major causes of 
 metabolic syndrome6 , and it has been 
 reported that the lack of physical activity itself can be a risk factor for early death from 
 atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease7 , 8 . therefore , increasing physical activity in 
 daily life is considered important for preventing metabolic syndrome9 , 10 . studies on 
 physical activity and metabolic syndrome reported that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome 
 was lower in groups with high levels of physical activity than in inactive groups , showing 
 an inverse correlation11 , 12 . meanwhile , physical activity level is also influenced by sociodemographic 
 characteristics13 . according to a study 
 comparing occupation and physical activity , physical activity level was low among office 
 workers with primarily sedentary tasks and little physical activity at work14 , 15 . furthermore , office workers were reported to have inactive leisure 
 activities after work in addition to sedentary behaviors in the workplace16 , 17 . bauman et al.18 
 analyzed the sedentary time at work and at home in 20 countries using the international 
 physical activity questionnaire ( ipaq ) and showed that the probability of sitting down for 
 more than 9 hours per day was more than three times greater with low physical activity than 
 it was with high physical activity . the association of physical inactivity at work and in 
 daily life with the prevalence of metabolic syndrome has been shown in various studies . moreover , a study by mndez - hernndez et al.19 showed that the risk of metabolic syndrome decreased by 0.75-fold 
 in a group with more than 3 hours of physical activity at work compared with those in a 
 group that did not . choi et al.20 also 
 reported that those with sedentary tasks and low physical activity levels among 1,001 u.s . workers had a higher risk of abdominal obesity , which is the essential identifying factor of 
 metabolic syndrome . in addition , a study by kim et al.21 , which analyzed the risk of metabolic syndrome for each 
 occupational group in south korea , revealed that the relative risk for metabolic syndrome 
 was 1.25-fold higher among office workers than it was among non - office workers , and that 
 their physical activity level was low . in other words , the risk of metabolic syndrome can be 
 associated with physical activity levels according to a person s occupation . however , although sociodemographic characteristics , such as occupation type of task , and 
 work environment , affect cardiovascular disease and diabetes are important factors in 
 metabolic syndrome22,23,24 , studies elucidating the 
 effect of preventing metabolic syndrome by taking into account the physical activity level 
 of white - collar workers with primarily sedentary tasks are lacking . therefore , the present 
 study examined the relationship between physical activity level and metabolic syndrome by 
 considering the daily physical activity level of white - collar workers . general characteristics , physical activity levels , and metabolic syndrome factors were 
 assessed in 385 male white - collar workers who participated in the 2013 seoul metabolic 
 syndrome . management campaign ( may , 2013 ) . after excluding those who did not participate in 
 the survey for measuring physical activity or blood testing , 331 male white - collar workers 
 were selected as study subjects . the study was approved by the ethics and research committee 
 for research involving human beings of the institution in which the study was performed . height and weight were measured using an electronic scale ( inbody4.0 , biospace , seoul , 
 south korea ) . for waist circumference , the midpoint of the subcostal region and the upper 
 iliac crest on both sides was measured to the nearest 0.1  cm in the standing position using 
 a measuring tape . blood pressure was measured once in the right arm using an electronic hematomanometer 
 ( ft-700r , jawon medical , gyeongsan , south korea ) in a sitting position after 10 minutes of 
 rest . when the reading was abnormal , blood pressure was remeasured after another 10 minutes 
 of rest . for blood testing , venous blood was collected on an empty stomach after the patient had 
 fasted for more than 10 hours , after which fasting glucose , high - density lipoprotein ( hdl ) 
 cholesterol and triglycerides were measured . physical activity levels of the study subjects were measured by a long - form , 
 self - administered version of the ipaq questionnaire25 . the level of physical activity was calculated from the data 
 obtained in the present study based on the score conversion system of the ipaq . the activity 
 level measured with the ipaq was divided into low , moderate , and high physical activity , as 
 follows : 1 . low physical activity : no activity was reported or some activity was reported but not 
 enough to meet categories 2 or 3 . 2 . a. 3 or more days of vigorous - intensity activity of at least 20 minutes per day . b. 5 or more days of moderate - intensity activity and/or walking for at least 30 minutes per 
 day . c. 5 or more days of any combination of walking , moderate - intensity , or vigorous - intensity 
 activities achieving a minimum of at least 600 met - min / week . 3 . a. vigorous - intensity activity of at least 3 days per week and accumulation of at least 
 1,500 met - min / week . b. 7 or more days of any combination of walking or moderate- or vigorous - intensity activity 
 accumulation of at least 3,000 met - min / week . metabolic syndrome diagnostic criteria consisted of the 5 components suggested by national 
 cholesterol education program treatment panel iii ( ncep - atp)26 . the waist circumference classifications for asian populations 
 suggested by the who were consulted27 . subjects were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome if three or more of the following conditions 
 were met : hdl 40  mg / dl , triglycerides 150  mg / dl , sbp and dbp at rest 130 or 85 mmhg , 
 fasting glucose 100  mg / dl , or waist circumference 90  cm . to examine the general characteristics of the study subjects , means and standard deviations 
 were calculated from their body measurements , and metabolic syndrome factors ( continuous 
 variables ) and engaging in drinking and smoking ( categorical variables ) were expressed as 
 frequencies and percentages . to observe the differences between metabolic syndrome - related 
 factors according to physical activity level , one - way analysis of variance was performed . to 
 verify the associations between metabolic syndrome variables and physical activity level , odds ratios was calculated using logistic regression analysis . the level of statistical 
 significance (  ) the comparison of groups according to physical activity level did not show differences in 
 age , weight , and height among groups . regarding metabolic syndrome factors , waist 
 circumference and triglycerides were significantly lower in the moderate and high physical 
 activity groups than in the low activity group ( p<0.05 and p<0.05 , respectively ) . hdl 
 cholesterol was significantly higher in the moderate and high physical activity groups than 
 in the low activity group ( p<0.05 ) . although there were differences in systolic and 
 diastolic blood pressure and fasting glucose level between the physical activity levels , 
 they were not significant ( table 1table 1.general characteristics of the participants and their metabolic syndrome 
 variables according to level of physical activityphysical activitylowmoderatehigh(n=111)(n=115)(n=105)age ( years)48.1  7.347.8  7.248.8  6.0weight ( kg)169.9  6.4170.6  5.6170.2  5.4height ( cm)71.0  9.070.2  9.469.9  7.7physical activity***1,367.6 960.83,604.2  1,579.1 7,219.9  3,296.8 smokes , n ( % ) 60 ( 54.1)61 ( 53.0)46 ( 43.8)drinks , n ( % ) 54 ( 48.8)63 ( 54.8)48 ( 45.7)ms factorwc ( cm)*82.8  7.180.5  7.8 80.7  6.6 tg ( mg / dl)*163.1  124.0127.2  69.8 132.6  113.2 hdl ( mg / dl)**49.3  12.753.3  12.8 54.2  12.5 sbp ( mmhg)134.5  13.7 132.3  15.7 132.4  14.9 dbp ( mmhg)84.1  9.0 82.4  10.3 81.9  10.4 fg ( mg / dl)97.1  22.8 92.6  12.1 91.9  14.9 data are shown as mean  standard deviation values unless otherwise indicated . a : low 
 physical activity ; b : moderate physical activity ; c : high physical activity ; dbp : 
 diastolic blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein 
 cholesterol ; ms : metabolic syndrome ; sbp : systolic blood pressure ; tg : triglycerides ; 
 wc : waist circumference . * p<0.05 , * * p<0.01 , * * * p<0.001 ) . data are shown as mean  standard deviation values unless otherwise indicated . a : low 
 physical activity ; b : moderate physical activity ; c : high physical activity ; dbp : 
 diastolic blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein 
 cholesterol ; ms : metabolic syndrome ; sbp : systolic blood pressure ; tg : triglycerides ; 
 wc : waist circumference . * p<0.05 , * * p<0.01 , * * * p<0.001 in the relationship between physical activity and metabolic syndrome factors , waist 
 circumference and fasting glucose showed negative correlations ( p<0.001 and p<0.05 , 
 respectively ) , whereas hdl cholesterol showed a positive correlation ( p<0.05 ) . however , 
 triglycerides , systolic blood pressure , and diastolic blood pressure did not show 
 significant relationships ( table 2table 2.association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome factorswctghdlsbpdbpfgphysical activity 0.176***0.0500.113 * 0.0000.0650.135*dbp : diastolic blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein 
 cholesterol ; sbp : systolic blood pressure ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference . 
 * p<0.05 , * * * p<0.001 ) . dbp : diastolic blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein 
 cholesterol ; sbp : systolic blood pressure ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference . 
 * p<0.05 , * * * p<0.001 the prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to the level of physical activity was 25.2% 
 for the low physical activity group , 13% for the moderate physical group , and 14.3% for the 
 high physical group ; it was significantly lower in the moderate and high physical activity 
 groups ( p<0.05 ) . the prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to an hdl cholesterol 
 level 40  mg / dl was 27.0% in the low physical activity group , 13.9% in the moderate physical 
 activity group , and 9.5% in the high physical activity group ( p<0.001 ) . fasting glucose 
 also showed significant differences , with the prevalences of metabolic syndrome being 29.7% 
 in the low physical activity group , 20.0% in the moderate physical activity group , and 16.2% 
 in the high physical activity group ( p<0.05 ) . however , waist circumference , 
 triglycerides , blood pressure , and other variables did not show differences ( table 3table 3.prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to level of physical activityphysical activitymetabolic syndrome*wctghdl***bpfg*90  cm 150  mg / dl40  mg / dl130 or 85 mmhg 100  mg / dllow ( n=111)28 ( 25.2)21 ( 18.9)36 ( 32.4)30 ( 27.0)78 ( 70.3)33 ( 29.7)moderate ( n=115)15 ( 13.0)16 ( 13.9)31 ( 27.0)16 ( 13.9)65 ( 56.5)23 ( 20.0)high ( n=105)15 ( 14.3)12 ( 11.4)23 ( 21.9)10 ( 9.5)61 ( 58.1)17 ( 16.2)total ( n=331)58 ( 17.5)49 ( 14.8)90 ( 27.2)56 ( 16.9)204 ( 61.6)73 ( 22.1)data are shown as numbers ( % ) . bp : blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : 
 high - density lipoprotein cholesterol ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference . bp : blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : 
 high - density lipoprotein cholesterol ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference . * p<0.05 , * * * p<0.001 the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome according to the level of physical activity was 2.03 
 ( 95% ci , 1.014.09 ) in the low physical activity group . this group had a greater risk of 
 developing metabolic syndrome than the group with a high level of physical activity ( table 4table 4.odds ratio of having metabolic syndrome according to level of physical 
 activityadjustedor(95% ci)high physical activity1.00moderate physical activity0.85(0.391.85)low physical activity2.03(1.014.09)ci : confidence interval ; or : odds ratio ) . ci : confidence interval ; or : odds ratio with respect to metabolic syndrome factors according to the level of physical activity , the 
 odds ratio for hdl cholesterol level 40  mg / dl was 3.52 ( 95% ci , 1.627.67 ) , with the low 
 physical activity group having an increased risk compared with the high physical activity 
 group , and the odds ratio for fasting glucose 100  mg / dl increased to 2.36 ( 95% ci , 
 1.194.66 ) . however , waist circumference , triglycerides , and blood pressure factors did not 
 show significant associations ( table 
 5table 5.odds ratio of having metabolic syndrome variables according to level of physical 
 activityphysical activitywc90  cm tg150  mg / dlhdl40  mg / dlbp130 or 85 mmhgfg100  mg / dlor ( 95% ci)or ( 95% ci)or ( 95% ci)or ( 95% ci)or ( 95% ci)high1.001.001.001.001.00moderate1.24 ( 0.552.80)1.18 ( 0.622.24)1.55 ( 0.663.61)1.76 ( 0.993.13)1.23 ( 0.602.53)low1.86 ( 0.864.02)1.73 ( 0.923.25)3.52 ( 1.627.67)0.89 ( 0.511.54)2.36 ( 1.194.66)bp : blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein cholesterol ; 
 or : odds ratio ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference ) . bp : blood pressure ; fg : fasting glucose ; hdl : high - density lipoprotein cholesterol ; 
 or : odds ratio ; tg : triglycerides ; wc : waist circumference the present study examined the relationship between physical activity level and metabolic 
 syndrome in male white - collar workers by dividing the workers into low , moderate , and high 
 physical activity groups according to ipaq classification . the study results showed that the 
 moderate and highly active groups showed significant differences compared with the low 
 activity group in waist circumference , triglycerides , and hdl cholesterol , which are the 
 risk factors for metabolic syndrome . the study also showed that the level of physical 
 activity was associated with waist circumference , fasting glucose , and hdl cholesterol . furthermore , the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was low for workers with moderate and high 
 physical activities compared with those with low physical activity . previous studies have already proven that physical activity and exercise play a crucial 
 role in preventing metabolic syndrome , a complex cardiovascular disease28 , 29 , and moderate 
 or vigorous physical activity is recommended for health promotion and prevention of chronic 
 disease30 . however , adults generally do 
 not engage in physical activity or exercise of moderate intensity or higher , and a lifestyle 
 with primarily sedentary behavior is prevalent31 . a study on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome showed that the 
 risk of metabolic syndrome decreased as the level of physical activity increased32 . moreover , decreased physical activity has 
 been shown to be associated with metabolic syndrome factors such as obesity , hypertension , 
 diabetes , and dyslipidemia33,34,35 , and a group 
 with high levels of physical activity had a lower incidence of metabolic syndrome compared 
 with those in an inactive group , showing a negative correlation11 . similar to previous studies , the present study showed 
 that for metabolic syndrome factors according to the level of physical activity in male 
 white - collar workers , waist circumference and triglycerides were significantly higher in the 
 group with low physical activity than they were in the moderate or high physical activity 
 groups , while hdl cholesterol was significantly lower in the low physical activity group 
 than it was in the moderate or high activity group . in addition , with respect to the 
 association between physical activity level and metabolic syndrome , waist circumference and 
 fasting glucose showed a negative correlation , whereas hdl cholesterol showed a positive 
 correlation . these results indicate that although not all of the factors of metabolic 
 syndrome showed clear differences according to the level of physical activity in public 
 office workers , moderate and high levels of physical activity are effective in decreasing 
 risk factors for metabolic syndrome in white - collar workers compared with low levels of 
 physical activity . this suggests that reducing sedentary lifestyles and inactivity and 
 increasing the level of physical activity in daily life an important for white - collar 
 workers who are at risk of metabolic syndrome due to a sedentary work environment . a previous investigation of 7,432 adults using the ipaq showed that a group that exercised 
 more than 3 times per week ( 20.3% ) had a lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome than a the 
 group without physical activity ( 36.2%)36 . a prospective cohort study of 874 middle - aged men and women showed a 
 lower prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a group with high physical activity levels12 , and the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome 
 prevalence tended to decrease as the level of physical activity increased37 . in a study by zhu et al.38 of 11,239 adults examined as part of the 
 third national health and nutrition examination survey ( nhanes iii ) in the u.s . , when a 
 group without physical activity was given a value of 1 , the odds ratio for the prevalence of 
 metabolic syndrome in a group with high physical activity was 0.41 times ( 95% ci , 0.310.54 ) 
 greater in males . in a study by chung39 , 
 when a group that engaged in regular exercise more than 5 times per week was given a value 
 of 1 , the odds ratio a group without any exercise increased by 1.7 times ( 95% ci , 1.02.8 ) . in the present study , the overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 17.5% in male public 
 office workers ; according to the physical activity level , the prevalence of metabolic 
 syndrome was higher in those with low physical activity ( 25.2% ) than in those with moderate 
 ( 13.0% ) or high ( 14.3% ) activity . the odds ratio for metabolic syndrome was 2.03-fold higher 
 in the group with low physical activity ( 95% ci , 1.014.09 ) compared with the high physical 
 activity group . as the physical activity level decreased in public office workers whose work 
 mainly involved sedentary tasks , the risk of metabolic syndrome incidence also tended to 
 decrease . this indicates that the level of physical activity is important for decreasing the 
 risk of metabolic syndrome . however , because the study was a cross - sectional study on white - collar workers within a 
 certain region , it is limited in terms of predicting the incidence of metabolic syndrome 
 according to physical activity level . furthermore , we did not analyze any job - related 
 factors , such as employment history , position , and work stress , which is another limitation 
 of the present study . further analysis of such factors may reveal further indicators of 
 being at risk for metabolic syndrome and other health conditions . in conclusion , the present study showed that low physical activity is associated with a 
 higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome in white - collar workers whose work primarily 
 involves sedentary tasks . therefore , this suggests that increasing the level of physical 
 activity is important for preventing metabolic syndrome in office workers with relatively 
 low physical activity .
[ purpose ] physical activity is important for preventing and managing metabolic syndrome . 
 white - collar workers can be inherently predisposed to chronic diseases , as their jobs are 
 primarily sedentary . 
 the purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between 
 physical activity and metabolic syndrome in male white - collar workers . 
 [ subjects and 
 methods ] physical activity and metabolic syndrome factors were measured in 331 male public 
 office workers . 
 physical activity was classified as high ( n=101 ) , moderate ( n=115 ) , or low 
 ( n=111 ) using the international physical activity questionnaire . to diagnose metabolic 
 syndrome , the u.s . 
 national cholesterol education program s standard was used . 
 [ results ] 
 waist circumference and triglyceride levels , factors of metabolic syndrome , were 
 significantly higher in the low physical activity group than in the moderate or high 
 activity group . 
 high - density lipoprotein cholesterol was significantly lower in the low 
 physical activity group than in the moderate or high activity group . 
 waist circumference 
 and fasting glucose were negatively correlated with physical activity level , and hdl 
 cholesterol showed a positive correlation with waist circumference . 
 the odds ratios for 
 metabolic syndrome were 2.03 times higher ( 95% confidence interval , 1.014.09 ) in the low 
 physical activity group than in the high physical activity group . 
 [ conclusion ] low 
 physical activity was a risk factor for metabolic syndrome in white - collar workers . 
 therefore , increasing physical activity in daily life may prevent metabolic syndrome in 
 white - collar workers .