Dietary carbohydrate, physical activity, adiposity and risk for metabolic syndrome in college-aged females

This study explored the associations between carbohydrate intake, fiber, whole grain, and metabolic syndrome (MetS) associated outcomes controlling for physical activity (PA) and adiposity (%Fat) in young women. Females (n = 336; 18.7 1.2 years) were assessed for dietary intake using 3 day dietary records. PA was assessed using accelerometry. %Fat was determined via dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Biomarkers were determined from fasting blood samples. Women were normal BMI (24.4 kg/m2 4.7) with %FAT of 35.2 7.0% averaging 10,228 3740 steps/day. Few women met the 2010 Dietary Guideline recommendations for whole grain (6.6%) and fiber intake (16.9%) and only 4.2% were defined as having MetS with low presence of individual risk factors (all < 26%). Although carbohydrate outcomes were associated with CRP, INS and HOMA (r range = 0.12- 0.25, all p<0.05), no independent relations existed after controlling for oral contraceptive use, race, PA and %Fat (all p>0.05).