A Mediterranean Lifestyle Is Associated With Lower Hypertension Prevalence and Better Aerobic Capacity Among New England Firefighter Recruits

Abstract

Objective: Examine the association between healthy Mediterranean lifestyle practices and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among New England firefighter recruits. Methods: A MEDI-Lifestyle score was used to measure adherence to a Mediterranean lifestyle (not smoking, increased physical activity, high adherence to Mediterranean diet, non-obese body mass index, decreased screen time, adequate nightly sleep, and napping) among the recruits. MEDI-Lifestyle scores were cross-sectionally analyzed with blood pressure, aerobic capacity, and other CVD risk factors. Results: Among 92 recruits, high adherence to MEDI-Lifestyle was significantly associated with a decreased risk of prevalent hypertension (odds ratio [OR] = 0.14 [0.03–0.71]) and a greater probability of high aerobic capacity (OR = 5.80 [1.05–32.05]) as compared with low adherence in age- and sex-adjusted analyses. Conclusions: Increased adherence to MEDI-Lifestyle is associated with a better CVD risk profile in firefighter recruits.

Low testosterone and cardiometabolic risks in a real-world study of US male firefighters

“…This would allow evidence-based clinical follow up and referral for those who might benefit from timely and individualized pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological therapies, thus avoiding expensive high complexity procedures, and promoting a better quality of life. Our data extend previous literature findings 56 , 57 that support early and continuous implementation of healthy lifestyle strategies based on physical activity/fitness promotion and good quality diets as well 58 .…”

Civilians Have Higher Adherence and More Improvements in Health With a Mediterranean Diet and Circuit Training Program Compared With Firefighters

“…It seems that increased adherence rates to a Mediterranean diet and healthy lifestyles are consistently related to lower body composition levels. It was even suggested that combining several healthy lifestyle habits could produce synergistic benefits, which we saw with the civilians in our study 6 …”

“…It was even suggested that combining several healthy lifestyle habits could produce synergistic benefits, which we saw with the civilians in our study. 6 With the diet and circuit training intervention, we also observed a decrease in BP in both groups. This change is supported by Barnard et al, 12 who found that a Mediterranean diet was better able to reduce SBP and DBP than a low-fat vegan diet.…”

“…This diet pattern emphasizes whole plant-based food and fish consumption while reducing red meat and processed meats, food sweetened with sugar, and refined grains. A Mediterranean diet has been demonstrated to reduce cardiac-related incidents and lower BP levels in persons at high risk of CVD 6,11,12 . Studies have suggested that increased consumption of vegetables and moderate fish consumption within the diet lead to CVD risk reduction 13–15 .…”

Examination of the effects of reactive agility and planned change of direction skills on Self Defense techniques in private security and protection program students

“…For 8 weeks, we evaluated the effect of increasing the intensity of response speed and In the studies conducted in the vocational field, in addition to the physical fitness, it is seen that the level of physical fitness of the vocational officers during the study period has turned into a positive relationship as a result of the trainings (Lan et al, 2020). Peterson et al periodic training program findings for different occupational groups reported by, these training studies suggest that different training programs may be a better alternative to periodization programs for occupational groups in order to improve conditioning parameters (Peterson et al, 2008).…”