Relationship of “weekend warrior” and regular physical activity patterns with metabolic syndrome and its associated diseases among Chinese rural adults

Little is known about the "weekend warrior" pattern of physical activity (PA) where people perform all their PA in 1 or 2 sessions per week. We investigated the relationship of weekend warrior and other PA patterns with metabolic syndrome (MS) and its associated diseases. Data on sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics were collected from the Nantong Metabolic Syndrome Study that included 13,505 women and 6,997 men between 2007 and 2008. Compared with inactive participants, weekend warriors were at lower risk of MS, diabetes, and hypertension; respective odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for men and women were 0.58 (0.43-0.79) and 0.67 (0.52-0.86), 0.52 (0.34-0.79) and 0.52 (0.33-0.83), and 0.79 (0.63-0.99) and 0.71 (0.57-0.89). Similar results were observed with regular activity, at a frequency of >3 sessions per week. Both weekend warrior and regular PA patterns showed a 10-60% decrease in abnormal triglycerides, glucose, and blood pressure in both sexes; abnormal waist circumference in men only; and abnormal high-density lipoprotein in women only. Our observed cross-sectional relationships reflect that >150 min/week of moderate PA or 75 min/week vigorous-intensity PA is needed to prevent MS and its component diseases, even if in a short-bout, intermittent PA pattern. ABBREVIATIONS: MS: Metabolic syndrome; WC: Waist circumference; TG: Triglycerides; HDL-c: High-density lipoprotein cholesterol; BP: Blood pressure; SBP: Systolic blood pressure, DBP: Diastolic blood pressure; PA: Physical activity; JIS: Joint Interim Statement; CVD: Cardiovascular disease; ATP III: US Third Report of the National Cholesterol Education Program, the Adult Treatment Panel; IDF: International Diabetes Federation; IPAQ: International Physical Activity Questionnaire; BMI: Body mass index; CDC: the Nantong Centers for Disease Control; OR: Odds ratio; CI: Confidence interval; SD: Standard deviation; IQR: Interquartile range.