In December 2018 researchers from Spain and the USA published the results of their study to assess the relationship between a healthy lifestyle and risk of developing metabolic syndrome. 10,807 (average age 37 years, 67% women) with no evidence of metabolic syndrome were followed-up for a minimum of 6 years. A Healthy Lifestyle Score, ranging from 0-9, was calculated for each individual using the following parameters: never smoking, moderate to high physical activity (more than 20 MET hours/week), Mediterranean diet (more than 4/8 adherence points), moderate alcohol consumption (women 0.1-5.0 g/day; men 0.1-10.0 g/day), low television exposure (less than 2 hours per day), no binge drinking (less than 5 alcoholic drinks at any time), taking a short afternoon nap (less than 30 minutes per day), meeting up with friends (more than 1 hour per day), and working at least a 40 hour week. During the follow-up period 458 cases of metabolic syndrome were diagnosed. The Healthy Lifestyle Score was then assessed against incidence of metabolic syndrome. Results showed that those individuals who were in the category with the highest Healthy Lifestyle Score (7-9 points) had a significantly reduced risk of developing metabolic syndrome when compared to those in the lowest category (0-3 points).
Garralda-Del-Villar M et al. Healthy Lifestyle and Incidence of Metabolic Syndrome in the SUN Cohort. Nutrients. 2018 Dec 30;11(1). pii: E65