Abstract
This study aimed to associate physical activity habits with cardiometabolic variables (blood pressure, fasting glucose, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides), body composition (body fat percentage and fat-free mass), and physical performance (handgrip strength (HGS), timed up-and-go (TUG), and walking speed) in Chilean older women. An analytical cross-sectional study analyzed 179 older women with a mean age of 75.4 years distributed into physically inactive (PI) older women (n = 74) and physically active (PA) older women (n = 105). A logistic regression showed that PI older women presented an increased risk of hyperglycemia (OR = 4.70; p = 0.000), high blood pressure (OR = 3.83; p = 0.000), low HDL cholesterol levels (OR = 2.13; p = 0.03), hypertriglyceridemia (OR = 2.54; p = 0.01), excess body fat percentage (OR = 4.33; p = 0.000), low fat-free mass (OR = 2.22; p = 0.02), low HGS in their dominant hand (OR = 3.37; p = 0.001) and non-dominant hand (OR = 3.60; p = 0.0001), and poor performance in TUG (OR = 5.60; p = 0.000) and walking speed (OR = 5.52; p = 0.000). In conclusion, physical inactivity was associated with increased cardiometabolic risk, excess body fat percentage, lower fat-free mass, and poorer physical performance in Chilean older women. At the same time, PA older women showed a lower cardiometabolic risk, better body composition, and better physical performance than PI older women.