Abstract

The purpose of this study was to confirm that regular physical exercise habit and calcium intake play a role in reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly to confirm that regular exercise is important in reducing serum lipid levels in postmenopausal women. Subjects were classified into regular exercise group(more than 3 times/wk, more than 30 min per exercise) and non-regular exercise group. A convenient frequency method was used to assess the nutritional intake of subjects. Anthropometric measurement such as body weight and height, and blood pressure were measured. There was no significant difference between non-regular exercise group and regular exercise group in energy intake and calcium intake. The total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in non-regular exercise group were significantly higher than those in regular exercise group. There were no significant correlations between age or weight with blood lipids and blood pressure in regular exercise group, while there were significant positive correlations between age or weight with blood lipids and blood pressure in non-regular exercise group. The levels of serum cholesterol, triglyceride, blood pressure and atherogenic index increased with age in non-regular exercise women. The blood pressure in low total Ca intake/plant Ca intake ratio group was significantly higher than that in high total Ca intake/plant Ca intake ratio group. There was a highly significant positive correlation between Ca intake and HDL-cholesterol in non-regular exercise women. And, there was a highly significant negative correlation between Ca intake and blood pressure in regular exercise women. The results suggest that increased habitual physical activity and calcium intake should be recommended by way of decreasing blood lipids and blood pressure in postmenopausal women. (Korean J Nutrition 34(4) : 417∼425, 2001)

Keywords

• postmenopausal women;
• exercise;
• calcium intake;
• blood lipids;
• blood pressure