Estimated daily energy expenditure and blood lipids in adolescents: the Québec family study

Purpose To examine the association between estimated daily energy expenditure and blood lipids in a sample of adolescents. Methods The sample consisted of 415 males and 356 females aged 10–19 years, mainly French Canadian, recruited from the greater Quebec City area through the media as part of Phase I of the Quebec Family Study. Estimates of daily energy expenditure (DEE) were obtained with a 3-day physical activity record. Blood lipids were measured by standard procedures. The sample was stratified into three activity groups (least active, less than 25th percentile of DEE; moderately active, 25–74th percentile of DEE; and most active, 75th percentile or greater of DEE), and also by clinical cutpoints for blood lipids. Analysis of covariance, controlling for age and fatness, was conducted to compare blood lipids within gender across activity groups. Logistic regression analysis, controlling for age and fatness, was used to estimate the relative risk of being classified with an undesirable level of a blood lipid parameter on the basis of the DEE. Results Total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels were not significantly different across activity groups in males or females. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was significantly different across activity groups in males (p < .05) and females (p < .05), but the pattern of variation was different between genders. In males, the TC/HDL-C and LDL-C/HDL-C ratios decreased between the moderately active and most active groups (p < .05). Significant differences remained when subcutaneous fatness was considered as a covariate. The results from logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds ratios for low HDL-C levels was significant only in low DEE girls (odds ratio 2.83) compared with high DEE girls. Conclusions The results suggest that increased energy expenditure and physical activity are associated with higher levels of HDL-C in adolescents of both sexes.