Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome Diagnosed by Three Different Criteria in School-Aged Children from Rural and Urban Areas of Northwest Mexico

Abstract

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) does not justify the evaluation of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children aged less than 10 years, unless they have a family history of risk factors. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Northwest of Mexico has increased in recent decades, making it possible to consider that MetS is already present in this group of population. Objective:The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in children aged 6 to 9 years living in rural (RA) or urban (UA) areas of Northwest of Mexico. A secondary objective was to find adequate criteria to diagnose the prevalence of MS in children.Methods: Participated 268 school-aged children in a random-selected cross sectional study. Anthropometric and blood pressure measurement were performed, and biochemical indicators were analyzed. MetS was defined as the presence of three or more risk factors and diagnosed using three different criteria. One of them according to what was proposed by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) for children and two additional criteria proposed by this study considering suitable cutoffs for age for lipids and blood pressure.

Cardiovascular and Diabetes Risk in Preschoolers

“…The clinical pattern of elevated triglycerides and low HDL-c (86.7 mg/dL and 37.8 mg/dL) agrees with that reported by Reaven and his co-authors for the Mexican-American school population (84.6 mg/dL and 47 mg/dL) [28] . Additionally, with previous studies carried out in the same region but among school children aged six to twelve, in whom the same pattern of alterations was observed, Ramirez found a similar lipid pattern, characterized by metabolic syndrome, in rural (5%) and urban (7.4%) areas [11] .…”

“…Previous studies by our working group carried out in the Sonora population have confirmed overweight and obesity in children aged six to nine, as well as metabolic syndrome in urban (7%) and rural (5%) areas. Diet and physical inactivity are the two main factors involved [11] .…”