Effective prevention of metabolic syndrome: A motto for healthy habits—“none of one, less of two, more of three”

SummaryObjectiveTo demonstrate the correlation of six healthy habits with metabolic syndrome.MethodsOur mnemonic or motto for promoting healthy habits is “none of one, less of two, more of three”. The “one” behavior is smoking. The “two” things are intake of food and alcohol. The “three” things are exercise, rest and enjoyable activities. In 2005, the diagnostic criterion for Japan-specific metabolic syndrome was published.DesignCross-sectional study of preventing metabolic syndrome by practicing these six healthy habits.Subjects18,139 Japanese who visited the Health Science Center at Jikei University Hospital in Japan for medical check-ups.MeasurementsParticipants completed a simple, self-administered questionnaire on the lifestyle with these mottos. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed with the above criterion.ResultsThe mean number of practicing six healthy habits was 3.4 ± 1.3 in the subjects with metabolic syndrome, which was significantly lower than that (3.7 ± 1.3) in the subjects without metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic decreased significantly in relation to the number of healthy habits practiced (20.9% for none, 17.4% for one, 15.0% for two, 13.1% for three, 10.5% for four, 8.4% for five, and 7.2% for six) (p < 0.001).ConclusionPracticing these six healthy habits may be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome.