Impact of brisk walking on perceived health evaluated by a novel short questionnaire in sedentary and moderately obese postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: The first objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of brisk walking on moderately obese (body mass index, 29-35 kg/m) postmenopausal women's perceived health, assessed through a novel short perceived health questionnaire (SPHQ), and to verify whether improvements in six items examined were related to cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and/or fat mass changes (study 1). The second objective of this study was to test the SPHQ against validated generic instruments (study 2). METHODS: From the 270 women included in study 1, 181 participants were subjected to three 45-minute walking sessions per week at 60% of their heart rate reserve, whereas 58 women remained inactive for 4 months. Perceived health assessed through the SPHQ, body composition, and CRF were determined before and after the 4-month study period. Another sample of 20 women was selected to validate the SPHQ (study 2). RESULTS: Despite a lack of between-group differences in the amelioration of four perceived health items, ideal weight and stress level were improved in women subjected to our walking program exclusively (P < 0.0001). Improved perceived healthy balanced diet was positively correlated to fat mass reduction in the walking group (r = 0.15; P < 0.05) only (study 1). The SPHQ shows good reproducibility for five of six items (intraclass correlation coefficients ranging from 0.77 to 0.89; P < 0.0001), and three of them were validated against generic tools (0.45 < r < 0.54; P < 0.05; study 2). CONCLUSIONS: Additional studies are needed to more accurately determine the relationships between changes in perceived health and changes in body fatness and/or CRF after endurance training and to continue the validation of the SPHQ.

Influence of a walking program on the metabolic risk profile of obese postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: Menopause transition is associated with an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS), which may partly explain the higher coronary heart disease risk. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of a 16-week walking program on the metabolic risk profile of women 50 to 65 years old whose body mass index ranged from 29 to 35 kg/m. METHODS: A total of 153 postmenopausal women were subjected to three sessions per week of 45-minutes of walking at 60% of their heart rate reserve. At baseline, 46 and 84 women were characterized by one and two or more determinants of MS, respectively, whereas 23 women did not show this condition. Body composition, resting blood pressure, fasting lipid-lipoprotein profile, and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) were measured before and after exercise. RESULTS: In the whole sample of 153 women, CRF estimated by V(O2max) increased in response to walking (P < 0.0001). Endurance training promoted body weight and fat mass losses and reduced waist girth and blood pressure, whereas it decreased plasma triglyceride, cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations (P < 0.0001). Improvements in lipid-lipoprotein levels were not associated with increases in CRF but seemed to be dependent on reduced body fatness. However, the greatest ameliorations in metabolic risk profile were found in women characterized by two or more determinants of MS at baseline than in the two other groups (0.05 < P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: A moderate-intensity physical activity is thus sufficient to reduce the metabolic risk profile of postmenopausal women characterized by the presence of one or several clinical features of MS but without overt coronary heart disease.