Prevalence of metabolic syndrome among children in the South of Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

The metabolic syndrome is characterized by the presence of abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemias and arterial hypertension, so that the main complications may be the development of type II diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, its prevalence is not exactly known because there are no homogeneous cut-off values for each criterion to define the metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents, which makes its diagnosis more difficult. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in a children population in the South of Jalisco, Mexico. In this descriptive, cross-sectional-analytic study, 63 children between 8 and 12 years of age, of both sexes, participated. Anthropometric data were obtained for the diagnosis of their nutritional status, blood pressure was measured, glucose and lipid profile were quantified. Children with three or more altered parameters were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome based on the three most commonly used criteria (IDF, NCEP-ATP-III, and Cook et al.). Fifty-two percent of the participants were diagnosed being overweight or with obesity. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 3.2% considering the IDF criteria, 14.3% according to the NCEP-ATP-III, and 6.3% according to Cook et al. The most frequently altered parameters were HDL-c, glucose, and triglycerides. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome varied according to the criteria used; Cook's definition could be the most accurate because the cut-off values for each parameter are adapted to the children population. It is important to mention that metabolic syndrome was diagnosed in both children with normal weight and children with excess weight/obesity, which indicates that more studies are needed in apparently healthy children with normal weight.