Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Chinese adolescents

Abstract

Since national figures on the occurrence of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adolescents are lacking, this study aims to estimate its prevalence and distribution among Chinese youngsters. The 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey is a nationally representative cross-sectional study. Applying the criteria for US adolescents, we estimated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among 2761 adolescents aged 15 to 19 years. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Chinese adolescents overall was 3·7 % (10 % in US adolescents). It was 35·2 %, 23·4 % and 2·3 % among adolescents who were overweight (BMI $ 95th percentile), at risk of overweight (BMI between 85th and 95th percentile) and normal weight (BMI below the 85th percentile), respectively. Urban boys had the highest rate (5·8 %) compared with girls and rural youngsters. Among adolescents who had a BMI $ 85th percentile and one or two parent(s) with metabolic syndrome, the prevalence was 46·4 %. A total of 96 % of overweight adolescents had at least one and 74·1 % overweight adolescents had at least two abnormalities of metabolic syndrome. Based on these figures, it is estimated that more than three million Chinese adolescents have metabolic syndrome. Both overweight and metabolic syndrome prevalence among adolescents are still relatively low in China, but the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among Chinese overweight adolescents is similar to those living in the USA.

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and factors associated with its components in Chinese adults

“…Urban residence and high income were positively associated with MetS risk in our study, which was in accordance with other studies [11,19,20]. Generally, these 2 situations mean higher socioeconomic level, which is in line with the risk of many chronic diseases in developing countries.…”

“…It is increasing rapidly in all ages and is considered one of the important public health challenges in China [9][10][11].…”

Metabolic Syndrome and its Association with Healthy Eating Index-2005 in Adolescents: Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

“…Although this approach results in balance among food group intakes, it does not consider controlled energy consumption [39]. In addition, previous studies have shown that the prevalence of MetS is higher in overweight adolescents, compared to those with normal BMI [8,34,40]. Therefore, lack of any significant association between HEI-2005 and MetS might be potentially related to the inability of this index to control the effect of over-consumption, and hence overweight and large waist circumference.…”

The Relationship Between AST/ALT Ratio and Metabolic Syndrome in Han Young Adults - AST/ALT Ratio and Metabolic Syndrome

“…The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in this study was lower than previously report from Chinese adults and was similar to Chinese adolescents. 11,12 It was because of a positive effect of age on the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. 13,14 Abdominal obesity, elevated blood pressure and low HDL-C were common components of the metabolic syndrome in this sample.…”