Grant: Project Grant

Cardiometabolic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, are the top causes of illness and death in women. Physical activity and healthy eating are important for cardiovascular and metabolic health as well as the prevention of these diseases. Canada has public health recommendations for physical activity and healthy eating practices that aim to help reduce the risk of chronic disease. However, cardiovascular and physical activity research in women and the impact of menopause is lacking, so the impact of these guidelines on women's health is not well known. The cardiovascular, body fat, and muscular systems and how they respond to physical activity and diet appear to differ in women vs men and pre vs postmenopausal women. Menopausal women may respond differently to the current guidelines, which is an important research gap. This study will measure the health benefits of following Canada's physical activity guidelines, and the added benefits of healthy eating among equal numbers of pre and postmenopausal women for the first time. Importantly, we will evaluate the health effects on the heart, vessels, blood sugar, blood lipids, body fat, and skeletal muscles as the key organs related to cardiovascular and metabolic health. This study will produce new evidence that is specific to women about the health benefits of the current Canadian guidelines on physical activity and diet. Health practitioners will use this new information to prevent cardiometabolic diseases in women.