Objective: The prospective relationship between cross-country skiing and hypertension is uncertain. We aimed to assess the associations of leisure time cross-country skiing habits with incident hypertension in a general population.
Methods: The frequency, average duration, and intensity of leisure cross-country skiing were assessed at baseline using a 12-month physical activity questionnaire in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective study of 1809 middle-aged men without hypertension. Hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals (CIs)] were calculated.
Results: New onset diagnosis of hypertension was observed in 279 participants during a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 24.7 (18.1-26.8) years. Total volume and duration of cross-country skiing were continuously associated with hypertension risk. In analyses adjusted for hypertension risk factors, when compared with men with no cross-country skiing activity, the hazard ratios (95% CIs) of incident hypertension were 0.75 (0.57-0.99) and 0.57 (0.41-0.79) for men who did 1-200 and more than 200 MET hours/year of cross-country skiing, respectively. Compared with men with no cross-country skiing activity, the corresponding adjusted hazard ratios (95% CIs) for incident hypertension were 0.72 (0.55-0.94) and 0.62 (0.44-0.86) for men who did 1-60 min/week and more than 60 min/week of cross-country skiing, respectively. In subsidiary analyses, there were age-adjusted associations of cross-country skiing habits with risk of stroke and acute coronary events, but these were attenuated on further adjustment for several confounders. Cross-country skiing habits were associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes.
Conclusion: Total volume as well as duration of leisure time cross-country skiing are each continuously, inversely, and independently associated with future risk of hypertension in a white male population.