The Relationship of Objective Physical Activity with Traditional and Nontraditional Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Women

Purpose of Review: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death among women in the USA, accounting for one of every three deaths. Physical activity (PA) has been shown to have numerous beneficial effects for CVD risk reduction in women. Nonetheless, much of the previous research on the impact of PA on CVD risk factors has been measured using self-report questionnaires. The purpose of this review was to summarize the main findings for the association between objectively measured PA and PA interventions on traditional and nontraditional CVD risk factors from randomized controlled trials (RCT), cohort, and cross-sectional studies published in or after 2011. Traditional risk factors included hypertension, lipids, diabetes mellitus, and obesity whereas nontraditional risk factors included hypertension during pregnancy, gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and depression. Recent Findings: Shifting from traditional CVD risk factors to nontraditional, researchers have been assessing objective PA and PA interventions on pregnancy-related CVD risk factors. A recent meta-analysis and RCT found that exercise during pregnancy reduces the risk of GDM compared to standard maternity care. Recent intervention studies show the beneficial effects of strength training and high-intensity interval training on insulin resistance in women with PCOS. Summary: More research looking at PA interventions with objectively measured compliance to PA (actual number of minutes, intensity, etc.) and observational studies using objective measures for PA (accelerometers, pedometers, etc.) are necessary at this time due to the difficulty of measuring light PA and the overestimation of MVPA through self-report. © 2018, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.