Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in obese children and adolescents using three different criteria and evaluation of risk factors

To compare the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MS) in Turkish obese children and adolescents by using three different definitions and to assess the risk factors through a retrospective evaluation of anthropometric and laboratory parameters. Sixty hundred and fourteen obese patients (307 male, 307 female; mean age: 11.3±2.5 years) were included in the study. Medical history, physical examination, anthropometric measurements, results of biochemical and hormonal assays were obtained from the hospital records. MS was diagnosed according to the modified World Health Organization (WHO), Cook and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) consensus criteria. The prevalence of MS was found to be 39%, 34% and 33% according to the modified WHO, Cook and the IDF consensus criteria, respectively. MS prevalence in patients aged 12-18 years was significantly higher than that in patients between 7 and 11 years of age (p