This study examined the association of cardiorespiratory fitness with the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged to older men and women (57 to 79 years of age). The population sample consisted of 1,347 individuals (671 men and 676 women). The authors found that cardiorespiratory fitness had a strong, inverse, graded, and independent association with metabolic syndrome risk. Men and women who were in the lowest sex-specific third of Vo2max had an approximately tenfold greater metabolic syndrome risk than those who were in the highest third in a multivariate statistical model. Low cardiorespiratory fitness was also associated with impaired glucose regulation in men and women without diabetes, but the relationship was weaker than for the metabolic syndrome. Based on these findings, maintaining good cardiorespiratory fitness through regular physical activity is likely to play an important role in preventing the metabolic syndrome.
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