Epidemiology of the metabolic syndrome in youth: A population-to-clinical-based perspective

Abstract

Recent studies have reported an association between childhood obesity and the development of a cluster of cardiometabolic disease risk factors characterized by variable combinations of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hypertension, which some have termed metabolic syndrome. In turn, this clustering is associated with the onset of type 2 diabetes and long-term atherosclerotic cardiovascular complications in both childhood and adulthood. In this chapter, we summarize the national prevalence estimates for metabolic syndrome in US youth based on various definitions that employ either a clinical threshold value for each component or a percentile threshold based on some combination of age, sex, and ethnicity. The national estimates are followed by a summary of large, key regional studies. The authors are aware that literally hundreds of small national and international clinical studies have estimated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in youth, and summarizing them all is beyond the scope of this chapter.