Abdominal obesity, metabolic dysfunction, and metabolic syndrome in U.S. adolescents: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2016

Abstract

Purpose: The objectives were to use National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data to: 1) estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk factors (elevated blood pressure, triglycerides, blood glucose, and low HDL cholesterol); 2) estimate the prevalence of MetS using three common definitions; and 3) compare the odds of MetS risk factors/ MetS when using different measures of abdominal obesity (sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD) versus waist circumference (WC)) among United States adolescents. Methods: Analyses were performed on data collected from adolescents aged 12-19 years (N = 1,214) participating in the 2011-2016 NHANES. Prevalence of MetS risk factors and MetS were estimated. Unadjusted and adjusted binomial/multinomial logistic regressions were performed to test associations between WC and SAD z-scores and MetS risk factors/MetS. Results: Males were more likely to have MetS risk factors. Depending on sex and the definition applied, the prevalence of MetS ranged from 2% to 11% and was lowest among females. Adjusted logistic regressions showed that one z-score increase in SAD and WC resulted in similar increased odds of MetS risk factors/MetS, but associations between abdominal obesity and MetS may vary by definition applied and race/ethnicity. Conclusions: Metabolic dysfunction and MetS are prevalent among U.S. adolescents, and it is important to consider how MetS components and MetS are measured in population inference.

Investigating the definitions of metabolic syndrome among urban high-school students in Taipei City in Taiwan and the optimal cutoff points of relevant risk factors

“…According to the results of this study, WC has the highest predictive power, sensitivity, and speci city, regardless of gender. This is in agreement with other studies which have suggested that WC is a good indicator for predicting MetS during adolescence [25,29,30] and adulthood [32]. A study on American adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age revealed that abdominal obesity was closely associated with MetS and other MetS components [25].…”

“…It must be noted, however, that cutoff points for abnormal MetS factors had different sources in these three studies. Based on the IDF criteria, the prevalence of MetS in Taiwanese, Korean, and American adolescents was 3% (2010-2011) [24], 2.1% (2010-2012) [22], and 4.24% (2011-2016) [25], respectively.…”

Children’s Environmental Health: A Systems Approach for Anticipating Impacts from Chemicals

“…There is an increasing body of evidence suggesting that environmental factors may contribute to the rapid increase in the incidence of these metabolic diseases. Evidence that exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals can induce effects that manifest later in life as neurological and metabolic outcomes is of particular concern [ 11 , 44 , 45 ].…”

Metabolic Syndrome in obese children – clinical prevalence and risk factors

“…Many authors reported that children with BMI over 75th centile have higher morbidity and mortality of DM2 and CVD in adulthood. [27][28][29][30] . Thus, quality and expectancy of life certainly is and will be affected by obesity.…”