Mediating Influences on Serum Lipids among Postmenopausal Women.

The purpose of this study was to investigate among postmenopausal women the relationship of dietary fat intake, tobacco smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and body weight to total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol measures in order to assess the relative influence of each variable on approximating recommended lipid levels. Subjects were drawn from three age-segregated mobile home parks in a popular retirement area of South Texas. Exclusion of persons receiving lipid-lowering medications or hormone replacement therapy resulted in a sample of 238 white females ranging in age from 57 to 82 years with a mean age of 68.2 years. Data were gathered through a self-report health risk appraisal instrument and venipuncture drawn blood samples. Stepwise regression analysis indicated that the strongest modifying influences on total cholesterol were physical activity and alcohol nonuse. Physical activity was the primary modifier of LDL cholesterol, while desirable body weight exerted the greatest influence on HDL cholesterol. Findings suggest that for older women nontherapeutic serum lipid modification leading to reduced atherosclerotic risk is primarily a function of the positive health behaviors of tobacco nonuse and increased physical activity. (Author/LL)