Joint Association of Dietary Pattern and Physical Activity Level with Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Chinese Men: A Cross-Sectional Study

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the joint associations of physical activity level (PAL) and dietary patterns in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among Chinese men. The study population consisted of 13 511 Chinese males aged 18–59 years from the 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey. Based on dietary data collected by a food frequency questionnaire, four dietary patterns were identified and labeled as “Green Water” (high consumption of rice, vegetables, seafood, pork, and poultry), “Yellow Earth” (high consumption of wheat flour products and starchy tubers), “New Affluent” (high consumption of animal sourced foods and soybean products), and “Western Adopter” (high consumption of animal sourced foods, cakes, and soft drinks). From the information collected by a 1-year physical activity questionnaire, PAL was calculated and classified into 4 categories: sedentary, low active, active, and very active. As compared with their counterparts from the New Affluent pattern, participants who followed the Green Water pattern had a lower likelihood of abdominal obesity (AO; 50.2%), hypertension (HT; 37.9%), hyperglycemia (HG; 41.5%), elevated triglyceride (ETG; 14.5%), low HDL (LHDL; 39.8%), and metabolic syndrome (MS; 51.9%). When compared to sedentary participants, the odds ratio of participants with very active PAL was 0.62 for AO, 0.85 for HT, 0.71 for HG, 0.76 for ETG, 0.74 for LHDL, and 0.58 for MS. Individuals who followed both very active PAL and the Green Water pattern had a lower likelihood of CVD risk factors (AO: 65.8%, HT: 39.1%, HG: 57.4%, ETG: 35.4%, LHDL: 56.1%, and MS: 75.0%), compared to their counterparts who followed both sedentary PAL and the New Affluent pattern. In addition, adherence to both healthy dietary pattern and very active PAL presented a remarkable potential for CVD risk factor prevention.