Gender differences in the relationships between housework and metabolic markers: a longitudinal cohort study in China

Background: Metabolic syndrome has become a major health threat of the world, there are few studies focused on the effects of housework on human metabolism. The aims of this study were to explore the associations between housework and metabolic markers, and to examine whether there are gender differences in the relationships of housework intensity on metabolic markers. Methods: : Using data of 2,624 participants were obtained from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between housework and metabolic markers (triglyceride, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, hemoglobin, blood glucose, cholesterol and blood pressure), with adjusting for the covariates. Results: : No associations were observed between housework and metabolic markers for men. Women who engaged housework had a higher risk of triglycerides than non-housework (OR=1.16, 95%CI:1.16-4.25). Compared with the low-intensity, women with moderate- and high-intensity had a higher risk of triglycerides (OR=1.78, 95%CI:1.14-2.78; OR=1.91, 95%CI: 1.22-2.98), MetS (OR=1.54, 95%CI: 0.98-2.43; OR=1.68, 95%CI: 1.07-2.66), pre-hypertension (OR=1.68, 95%CI: 1.08-2.62; OR=1.63, 95%CI: 1.04-2.55) and overweight (OR=1.65, 95%CI: 1.01-2.70; OR=1.66, 95%CI: 1.01-2.72). Conclusion: Housework was associated with high levels of women’s metabolic markers such as triglycerides, MetS and pre-hypertension, and there were gender differences between the associations of housework intensity and metabolism markers. This may be a mechanism through which housework was associated with metabolic diseases.