Metabolic syndrome among children aged 6 to 11 years, Al Ain, United Arab Emirates: Role of obesity

Objectives To evaluate the association of metabolic syndrome with the varying degrees of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods As an ancillary to the primary study examining prevalence of MetS in a random sample of 1186 adolescents from 114 schools in Al Ain, parents and siblings aged 6 to 11 years were invited to participate in this study. After informed consent from parents and assent from children, trained nurses administered questionnaires to assess socio‐demographic and lifestyle variables and conducted anthropometric measurements. Fasting blood samples were drawn to measure plasma lipids and glucose. We used Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC)‐defined categories of body mass index (BMI = kg/m2) for normal weight (