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Metabolic syndrome in youth: a cross‐sectional school‐based survey
Author(s) -
Vissers Dirk,
Vanroy Christel,
De Meulenaere An,
Van de Sompel Annemie,
Truijen Steven,
Van Gaal Luc
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00528.x
Subject(s) - metabolic syndrome , medicine , overweight , national cholesterol education program , cross sectional study , obesity , population , gerontology , demography , pediatrics , physical therapy , family medicine , environmental health , pathology , sociology
Aim: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) among students attending vocational secondary school (VSE). VSE provides practice‐oriented education in which young people learn a specific occupation. Previously we reported VSE to be the type of education with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity. Methods: All data were collected in a cross‐sectional school‐based survey. Subjects were recruited from a community sample of 869 adolescents in 14 secondary schools. In this total sample all components of the metabolic syndrome were assessed in a subgroup of 506 students. MetS was defined analogous to National Cholesterol Education Program: Adult Treatment Panel III criteria, with modifications for students under 19 years of age. Results: In the subsample (n = 506) 4.1% of the students had metabolic syndrome. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among BMI categories (p < 0.001). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in obese students (39.1%) than in overweight students (2.8%) and normal weight students (0.3%). Conclusion: Being overweight or obese substantially increases the risk for metabolic syndrome, even in an adolescent school population.