Evaluation of Family History, Antioxidant Intake and Activity Level as Indicators For Chronic Disease In A Healthy Young Population

We recruited 24 men and 26 women (18-30 y) to evaluate whether family history, activity level, or dietary intake correlated with dyslipidemias, blood pressure or blood glucose levels in this young population. The mean values for plasma triglycerides (72.5 ± 29.9 mg/dL), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C) (75.6 ± 24.4 mg/dL) HDL-cholesterol (64.9 ± 18.9 mg/dL), glucose (92.2 ± 6.6 mg/dl), systolic (112.0 ± 12.4 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (72.9 ± 7.0 mmHg), body mass index (23.3 ± 3.1 kg/m2), and waist circumference (81.3 ± 6.5 cm) were within a healthy range. However, 32% of individuals (n=16, 11 male and 5 female) had either elevated LDL-C (> 100 mg/dL), or at least one parameter associated with metabolic syndrome. Family history indicated that 60% of the participants could be at risk for cancer, 46% for heart disease, and 38% for diabetes. For all subjects, number of active minutes per week was negatively correlated with LDL-C (r = -0.339, P < 0.05) and triglycerides (r = -0.41, P < 0.01), whereas HDL-cholesterol was positively correlated with intake of the carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin (r = 0.339, P < 0.05).Systolic (r = -0.277, p< 0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.307, P < 0.05) negatively correlated with dietary lutein and zeaxanthin. These results imply that increased physical activity and a diet high in antioxidants favorably affect biomarkers for heart disease and diabetes, suggesting that lifestyle factors may protect against disease risk in this population characterized as having a family history of chronic disease.