Background: There is compelling evidence of an obesity phenomenon
worldwide and interest in structured physical activity in improvement on
overall health. Moderate to high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness and
muscular strength resulting from aerobic and strength training appears to be
protective against diabetes, CVD, and metabolic syndrome. Aerobic and
strength training have also been shown to have beneficial effects on metabolic
syndrome risk factors by improving in glucose metabolism, lipids profile,
blood pressure, and abdominal obesity via different physiological pathways.
Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of different modes of
training on metabolic syndromes risk factors among obese females. A total of
52 participants (22.71± 1.53 years old) participated in this study. Participants
were randomly assigned into aerobic (n=13), strength (n=13), concurrent
(n=13), and control (n=13) groups. Intervention groups (aerobic, strength and
concurrent) engaged in training 3 times weekly for 8 weeks, with
approximately one hour per session at moderate intensity (aerobic; 50-70%
of heart rate reserve, strength; 50-70% 1 repetition maximum). The
concurrent training group spent 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, followed by
30 minutes of strength exercise. Triglycerides (TG), high density lipoprotein
(HDL), fasting blood glucose (FBG), resting blood pressure (RBP), and waist
circumference (WC) were measured in this study. A significant improvement
(p < 0.05) was observed in fasting blood glucose (FBG), resting blood
pressure (RBP), and waist circumference (WC) in intervention groups. It can
be summarized that regular involvement in exercise was associated with a
reduction in most metabolic syndrome risk factors among obese females.
A total of 524 industrial workers were studied. They consisted of 442 noise exposed and 82 non-noise exposed workers. The purpose was to compare the prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss among the noise exposed and the non-noise exposed workers, to study their knowledge on the hazard of noise to hearing and the workers' attitude towards the hearing protection devices. The prevalence of sensori-neural hearing loss was significantly higher among the noise exposed workers, i.e., 83% versus 31.7% (p < 0.01). However, the prevalence of hearing impairment was much lower for both groups, being 30.1% for the noise exposed and 3.7% for the non-noise exposed group. Although hearing protection devices were provided to 80.5% of the workers, only 5.1% were wearing them regularly. The possibility of developing hearing loss due to exposure to excessive noise was only known by 35.5% of the noise exposed workers. This awareness was found to have a positive correlation with the workers' compliance to the hearing protection devices. Our findings highlight the need for workers to be educated on the hazards of excessive noise exposure to hearing.
Background: The rate of obesity is consistently increasing in Malaysia, especially among women, which exposes the population to various metabolic and other mortality diseases. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of 12 weeks of Aqua Zumba® Fitness programmes on metabolic diseases indicators for obese young and middle-age women. Methods: Eighty previously sedentary obese (BMI >30 kg/m2) women (age 20-59 years old) were randomized to either a 12-week Aqua Zumba® regimen (AZ, n=40) or control group (C, n=40). Experiment group were involved in 12-weeks of Aqua Zumba® Fitness programmes, 3 times per week, 60 minutes per session, with an intensity of 50-75% of maximum heart rate. Body fat percentage (BF%), visceral fat (VF), waist circumference (WC), resting blood pressure (RBP), blood glucose (BG), and blood lipids (HDL and TG) were measured at baseline (week-0) and post-exercise intervention (week-13). Result: A significant difference (p