Markers of fitness, stress, and cardiometabolic disease risk among law enforcement officers.

Objective: Law enforcement officers (LEOs) face numerous stressors that exacerbate cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk. The current study examined novel and classic risk factors among a cohort of LEOs to better understand relationships between biomarkers of stress, oxidative stress, inflammation, and CMD risk.

Methods: Associations between measures of cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness, body composition, and cardiometabolic health with novel/classic CMD risk factors were assessed among 66 male LEOs.

Results: Muscular fitness and cardiorespiratory fitness were significantly associated with reduced insulin resistance. Moreover, higher fat mass and body fat percentages were significantly associated with increased markers of inflammation and insulin resistance.

Conclusions: Maintaining high cardiorespiratory and muscular fitness levels and improving body composition profiles can ameliorate cardiometabolic health.