The Prevalence of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome in the Korean Military Compared with the General Population

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: Obesity and related metabolic disorders are growing health challenges worldwide and individuals at military service are not exceptions. The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MS) in the Korean military and to compare with the general population.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 4,803 young military participants who underwent a corporal health-screening program between October 2013 and October 2014. The National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria was used to identify MS.
We also sampled 1,108 men aged 19–29 years from the Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey from 2010 to 2013 to compare with their military counterparts.
Results: The mean age of military participants was 20.8 ± 1.1 years, and 20.6% (n = 988) were obese. The prevalence of MS was 0.8% in military participants, while 7.9% in general population. The risk factors of MS were less prominent among military participants relative to civilians, with the exception of high blood pressure, of which prevalence was higher among military participants (21.5% vs. 18.2%, respectively). In multiple logistic analysis, high physical activity conferred lower odds of MS and obesity in military participants (odds ratios, 0.19 and 0.81, respectively). Age older than 25 years increased risk of most components of MS among civilians.
Conclusion: The prevalence of obesity and MS is lower in military participants compared with civilians of similar age. Monitoring of high blood pressure and proper stress management are warranted in those at military service.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Payab M, "The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and different obesity phenotype in Iranian male military personnel" 11 (11): 404-413, 2017

2 Filho RT, "The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among soldiers of the military police of Bahia State, Brazil" 8 (8): 310-315, 2014

3 Park YW, "The metabolic syndrome: prevalence and associated risk factor findings in the US population from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994" 163 (163): 427-436, 2003

4 Mottillo S, "The metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk a systematic review and meta-analysis" 56 (56): 1113-1132, 2010

5 Eckel RH, "The metabolic syndrome" 365 (365): 1415-1428, 2005

6 Flegal KM, "The influence of smoking cessation on the prevalence of overweight in the United States" 333 (333): 1165-1170, 1995

7 John U, "Smoking status, obesity and hypertension in a general population sample: a cross-sectional study" 99 (99): 407-415, 2006

8 서성환, "Sex Factors in the Metabolic Syndrome as a Predictor of Cardiovascular Disease" 대한내분비학회 29 (29): 522-529, 2014

9 Kalff KG, "Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in military and civilian flying personnel" 70 (70): 1223-1226, 1999

10 Al-Qahtani DA, "Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Saudi adult soldiers" 26 (26): 1360-1366, 2005

11 Khazale NS, "Prevalence and characteristics of metabolic syndrome in 111 Royal Jordanian Air Force pilots" 78 (78): 968-972, 2007

12 Granado NS, "Newly reported hypertension after military combat deployment in a large population-based study" 54 (54): 966-973, 2009

13 Ceppa F, "Military community: a privileged site for clinical research: epidemiological study of metabolic syndrome risk factors in the military environment" 173 (173): 960-967, 2008

14 Herzog CM, "Metabolic syndrome in the Military Health System based on electronic health data, 2009-2012" 180 (180): 83-90, 2015

15 Suh S, "Metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular diseases in Korea" 21 (21): S31-S35, 2014

16 Lim S, "Increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Korea: the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 1998-2007" 34 (34): 1323-1328, 2011

17 Stewart IJ, "Hypertension after injury among burned combat veterans: A retrospective cohort study" 43 (43): 290-296, 2017

18 Blacker SD, "Health, fitness, and responses to military training of officer cadets in a Gulf Cooperation Council country" 176 (176): 1376-1381, 2011

19 Alberti KG, "Harmonizing the metabolic syndrome: a joint interim statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; American Heart Association; World Heart Federation; International Atherosclerosis Society; and International Association for the Study of Obesity" 120 (120): 1640-1645, 2009

20 Zimmet P, "Global and societal implications of the diabetes epidemic" 414 (414): 782-787, 2001

21 Stensvold D, "Even low level of physical activity is associated with reduced mortality among people with metabolic syndrome, a population based study (the HUNT 2 study, Norway)" 9 (9): 109-, 2011

22 Bauduceau B, "Epidemiology of the metabolic syndrome in 2045 French military personnel (EPIMIL study)" 31 (31): 353-359, 2005

23 Williams AG, "Effects of basic training on material handling ability and physical fitness of British Army recruits" 42 (42): 1114-1124, 1999

24 Williams AG, "Effects of basic training in the British Army on regular and reserve army personnel" 19 (19): 254-259, 2005

25 Grundy SM, "Diagnosis and management of the metabolic syndrome: an American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute scientific statement" 21 (21): 1-6, 2006

26 Sneve M, "Cross-sectional study on the relationship between body mass index and smoking, and longitudinal changes in body mass index in relation to change in smoking status: the Tromso Study" 36 (36): 397-407, 2008

27 Chiolero A, "Consequences of smoking for body weight, body fat distribution, and insulin resistance" 87 (87): 801-809, 2008

28 Costa FF, "Combination of risk factors for metabolic syndrome in the military personnel of the Brazilian Navy" 97 (97): 485-492, 2011

29 Virdis A, "Cigarette smoking and hypertension" 16 (16): 2518-2525, 2010

30 Whitlock G, "Body-mass index and cause-specific mortality in 900 000 adults: collaborative analyses of 57 prospective studies" 373 (373): 1083-1096, 2009

31 Brown CD, "Body mass index and the prevalence of hypertension and dyslipidemia" 8 (8): 605-619, 2000

32 Shihab HM, "Body mass index and risk of incident hypertension over the life course: the Johns Hopkins Precursors Study" 126 (126): 2983-2989, 2012

33 Albanes D, "Associations between smoking and body weight in the US population: analysis of NHANES II" 77 (77): 439-444, 1987

34 Papathanasiou G, "Association of high blood pressure with body mass index, smoking and physical activity in healthy young adults" 9 (9): 5-17, 2015

35 Kim J, "Association between physical activity and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged Japanese: a cross-sectional study" 11 (11): 624-, 2011

36 Ishizaka N, "Association between cigarette smoking, metabolic syndrome, and carotid arteriosclerosis in Japanese individuals" 181 (181): 381-388, 2005

37 Chen CC, "Association among cigarette smoking, metabolic syndrome, and its individual components: the metabolic syndrome study in Taiwan" 57 (57): 544-548, 2008

38 McGraw LK, "A review of cardiovascular risk factors in US military personnel" 23 (23): 338-344, 2008

39 Park J, "A comparison of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the United States (US) and Korea in young adults aged 20 to 39 years" 17 (17): 471-482, 2008