This study aimed to verify whether lipid profile (LP) differs between men classified into two categories of physical activity level (PAL) and stress control; and to analyze the results according to the evidence that suggests an inverse relationship among PAL, LP and stress control. The sample was composed of 109 subjects (age = 33.7±8.0 years). To evaluate the PAL we used the "Habitual Physical Activity Questionnaire". To evaluate stress control, we used the "Profile of Individual Lifestyle" questionnaire, classifying subjects into one of the following categories: "bad PAL" or "good PAL", "yes stress control" or "no stress control". We obtained the LP using an enzymatic spectrophotometric method. Analysis of variance with two factors (p < 0.05) indicated that the LP did not differ (p > 0.05) between men in the "bad PAL" / "good PAL" groups and in the "yes stress control" / "no stress control" groups. There was a small chance (p > 0.05) for PAL and stress control to have an influence on LP, ranging from 14.5 (VLDL) to 23.7% (LDL) for PAL and from 5.1 (LDL) to 10.9% (VLDL) for stress control. These factors hardly explained (p > 0.05) the LP variation, which peaked at 1.7%. When under the same circumstances of this study, the overall effect of PAL and stress control may apply to all LP. These findings have important implications for studies that aim to verify whether the subjects reached "good PAL". We suppose that these findings are due to a possible inaccuracy in the PAL and stress control assessment.
Cholesterol; Dyslipidemia; Life stress; Motor activity; Physical activity; Questionnaires
