Effects of Health Behaviors on Triglyceride/High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Ratio in Korean Adults

Triglyceride (TG)/high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) ratio is significantly related to insulin resistance. This study aimed to assess the impact of health behaviors on the TG/HDL-C ratio in Korean adults. This was a cross-sectional study using data from 16,722 subjects (7,328 men and 9,394 women) aged over 20 years of the 7th (2016-2018) Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Effects of health behaviors on TG/HDL-C was determined by comparing TG/HDL-C after combining different health behaviors. In male subjects, TG/HDL-C ratio was high if they did not perform aerobic physical activity while smoking or drinking alcohol (p < 0.05). Their TG/HDL-C ratio was also high when smoking and drinking at the same time even if aerobic physical activity was performed (p < 0.05). In female subjects, all TG/HDL-C ratios were high if they did not perform aerobic physical activity except when they were drinking alcohol (p < 0.05). In Koreans, to lower the TG/HDL-C ratio, regular aerobic physical activity is necessary. For males, smoking cessation and abstinence should be done at the same time to lower the TG/HDL-C ratio