Gender-based differences in the clustering of metabolic syndrome factors in children and adolescents

Abstract

BackgroundWe depicted gender-differences in metabolic syndrome (MS) clustering before and after puberty in pediatrics, in order to develop gender specific preventive strategies for childhood obesity.MethodsWe considered 1079 children and adolescents (529 females and 550 males; mean age 11.5 ± 2.8 year). According to body mass index (BMI) percentiles the subjects were classified as normal weight BMI <75th, overweight BMI 75–95th and with obesity BMI >95th. MS was diagnosed when three of the following criteria for age and sex percentiles were met: BMI >95th, triglycerides (TGs) level >95th, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-c) level <5th, blood pressure (blood pressure) >95th percentile, fasting blood glucose (FBG) >100 mg/dL and/or homeostatic model assessment- insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) >97.5th percentile.ResultsThe prevalence of dismetabolic factors was similar in both genders, except for pathological BP, which was higher in males (p = 0.02). MS was detected only in patients with obesity, with a higher prevalence in pubertal than late/post-pubertal subjects (p < 0.001), without any significant difference between gender. In pre-puberty, the most common MS combination was obesity (HBMI) + hypertension (HBP) + hyperglycemia/insulin resistance (HGLY/IR) followed by HBMI + low HDL-levels (LHDL) + HGLY/IR versus HBMI + HBP + HGLY/IR followed by HBMI + HBP + LHDL, respectively, in females and males. In the early and late/post-pubertal periods, the most prevalent combination remained similar to pre-puberty, additionally in both sexes other combinations, such as HBMI + HTG + HBP + HGLY/IR, HBMI + HBP + LHDL + HGLY/IR, HBMI + HTG + LHDL + HGLY/IR and HBMI + HTG + LHDL + HBP + HGLY/IR were also detected, differently distributed in males and females.ConclusionsWe confirm that MS is an important consequence related to obesity, particularly in the post-puberty stage. Some gender-based differences should be considered early in order to identify specific preventive and treatment strategies.

Predictive Ability of the Estimate of Fat Mass to Detect Early-Onset Metabolic Syndrome in Prepubertal Children with Obesity

“…Weight, height, and blood pressure are recorded as previously described [25]. BMI was calculated as body weight (kilograms) divided by height (meters squared).…”

“…Waist circumference was measured as previously described [25]. WHtR, ABSI, TMI, VAI, and Con-I were calculated as follows:…”

Sex differences in metabolic syndrome components in adolescent military dependents at high‐risk for adult obesity

“…These findings parallel the majority of previous research on sex differences in MetS components among civilian youth. 2,4,5 There are several potential explanations for these observed sex differences. Lifestyle factors may partially explain these differences, as a previous study in treatment-seeking adolescents with severe obesity found that boys reported more screen time, higher intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and soda, and lower intake of vegetables compared to girls.…”

“…2 Similarly, a cross-sectional study of treatment-seeking adolescents with severe obesity found that, compared to girls, boys had significantly higher triglycerides and systolic blood pressure, as well as lower HDL-C. 4 In another sample of children and adolescents across all weight strata, boys had higher waist circumference, fasting glucose, and systolic blood pressure. 5 However, the data are not entirely consistent. For example, one study found that girls were more likely to have multiple metabolic This article is protected by copyright.…”

Usefulness of the waist-to-height ratio for predicting cardiometabolic risk in children and its suggested boundary values

“…Abdominal adiposity and visceral fat were positively associated with elevated blood pressure and dyslipidaemia in children, independent of BMI [15,16]. This could be sex specific; indeed, in a large sample of children and adolescents, boys showed a higher WC, WHtR, fasting glucose level, and systolic blood pressure, independent of BMI [17]. In addition, in the last few decades, a higher increase in waist circumference compared to BMI was observed, suggesting that abdominal adiposity has proportionally increased more than overall body fatness [18].…”