Metabolic risk factors clustering among adolescents: A comparison between sex, age and socioeconomic status

Abstract

The aim was to compare the metabolic risk factors (MRF) between sex, age and socioeconomic status in a sample of adolescents from Curitiba, Brazil. A cross-sectional school-based study was conducted on 997 adolescents (429 boys) aged 12-17 years old from public schools. Total Cholesterol (TC), LDL-c, HDL-c, Triglycerides, Glycemia, Blood Pressure, waist circumference and body mass index were measured. Sex, age and socioeconomic status information was obtained using a questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, Fisher Exact and Chi-Square Tests were used to establish the sample’s characteristics and the MRF comparison between variables. We found that 27.4% were classified as overweight/obese, almost half of them had TC and LDL-c classified as limitrophe/ altered, with a difference between the sexes (p < 0.01), and that a higher percentage of altered values was seen among girls. The percentage of 3 and 4 or more MRF was 13.8% and 6.3%, respectively. In addition, 86.5% of the participants had at least one and 39.7% had at least two MRF. We conclude that there was a high percentage of overweight/obese, as well as a great number of subjects with altered TC and HDL-c. We also pointed out the large percentage of aggregated metabolic risk factors in both sexes. Strategies to reduce metabolic risk factors are required.