Effect of walking and dietary intervention on lipid profile among adults at risks for CVD: A systematic review

Purpose: There are still inconclusive results about the effects of walking or diet on serum cholesterol. The purpose of this review was to explore the effect of walking and dietary intervention on cholesterol levels among high-risk individuals for CVD. Methods: The literature search was conduced using MEDLINE,‬ ‪CINAHL, Health Source - Consumer Edition, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, PsycINFO, SPORTDiscus, ERIC, Academic Search Premier, and PubMed.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬ Results: Only 7 studies met the inclusion and exclusion criteria. These interventions consisted of walking and calories restrictive diet. The walking regimens were conducted on 3-7 days/week at 40-80% of HR reserve for time ranged from 10 to 55 minutes/day. The dietary component consisted of daily restrictive diet that was either calories reduction of 250-400 kcal/day or restriction of caloric intake up to 2000 kcal/day. The interventions' durations varied between 12 weeks to 6 months. The findings showed a general improvement in lipid profile. Five studies showed significant reductions in triglyceride (Mean change=9.75-95.44 mg/dL). LDL-cholesterol significantly decreased between participants in 4 studies (Mean change=3.3-20.49 mg/dL). Significant increase in HDL-cholesterol was recorded in 2 studies (Mean change=2.71-3.48 mg/dL). Three studies reported substantial reduction in total cholesterol (Mean change=5.41-28 mg/dL). Conclusion: More research should be done to investigate the effect of different lifestyle modification approaches on serum cholesterol among this specific target population. This would help determine the appropriate duration and approaches to document the optimal improvements in all serum cholesterol values. Future studies must also consider using nutrition educational approach as an alternative for hypocaloric diet.