The Risk of Developing Obesity, Insulin Resistance, and Metabolic Syndrome in Former Power-sports Athletes - Does Sports Career Termination Increase the Risk

INTRODUCTION: Obesity is associated with several complications like metabolic syndrome. Many professional athletes adopt a sedentary lifestyle after retirement. This study was aimed at assessing the risk of developing obesity, insulin resistance (IR), and metabolic syndrome among former power-sports athletes, compared with age-matched active athletes and nonathletes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted in Mashhad during 2012–2014. The individuals were recruited through announcements and were divided into three groups of active athletes (n = 34), ex-athletes (n = 30), and nonathletes (n = 30). Demographic and anthropometric data were collected and biochemical factors including low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), total cholesterol, triglycerides (TG), fasting plasma glucose, insulin, and high-sensitive C-reactive protein were measured. RESULTS: Ex-athletes had significantly higher mean values of weight, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, LDL-C, insulin, homeostatic model assessment (HOMA) IR, and HOMA β-cell function (HOMA-%β-cell) compared with active athletes and nonathletes (P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P < 0.001, P = 0.03, P = 0.01, P = 0.02, and P = 0.01, respectively). However, mean values of HDL-C was significantly lower in ex-athletes compared with nonathletes (P < 0.001). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome showed no significant difference among three groups, although its mean was higher among ex-athletes. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that abandoning regular athletic exercise and weight cycling in power sports athletes leads to adverse outcomes such as obesity and IR. Although higher IR might not necessarily result in metabolic syndrome in short term, it could cause metabolic syndrome in the long run.