Evaluation of metabolic syndrome frequency and its components in children with obesity

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to reveal the frequency of metabolic syndrome and its components in obese child-ren.Material and Method: This study was conducted in Gaziosmanpasa University School of Medicine Department of Children’s Health and Diseases between January 2013 and December 2014. Study population included only obese child-ren. The patients with age, and gender -adjusted body mass indices (BMIs) over 95 p were assigned the diagnosis of obesity.A total of 372 patients who had been followed up in our clinic were enrolled in the study. The ages of the patients ranged between 10 and 17 years. Patients’ data on anthropo-metric measurements, body mass indices, blood pressure, fasting insulin, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol and trigl-yceride values were obtained from hospital records. In all patients, the presence of insulin resistance was calculated by homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA- IR) method. Atherogenic index was calculated with the formula log (TG/HDL-C). All children were diagnosed with metabolic syndrome based on WHO criteria modified for children.Results: Metabolic syndrome, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance were seen in 22.04% (n: 82), 38.98% (n: 145), 16.40% (n: 61) and 55.12% (n: 205) of the obese children, respectively. A statistically significant difference was not found between genders in terms of the components of metabolic syndrome except insulin resistance. However, blood pressure levels and mean insulin resistance values were lower in prepubertal children, while HDL levels were found to be significantly higher (p<0.001). Atherogenic index was found to be higher in obese children with meta-bolic syndrome (p< 0.001).Conclusion: The most frequently seen component of metabo-lic syndrome in obese children is insulin resistance. Prevention of insulin resistance will decrease the incidence of metabolic syndrome and associated risk of cardiovascular diseases.