[Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents who consult with obesity].

BACKGROUND: The higher prevalence of childhood obesity has led to search for metabolic syndrome (MS) in this age group.

AIM: To study the prevalence of MS in obese children and adolescents.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Cross sectional study of 255 obese children and adolescents aged 11.3 ± 2.4 years, 45% males, 60% pubertal, with a body mass index (BMI) z score of 2.7 ± 0.6, who were evaluated for obesity. MS was defined as the presence of at least three of the following criteria, according to Ferranti: fasting glucose (FG) ≥ 100 mg/dl, triglycerides (TG) ≥ 100 mg/dl, HDL < 50 mg/dl, waist circumference (WC) > percentile (p) 75 and blood pressure (BP) > p90. Patients were also classified using Cook criteria: FG ≥ 100 mg/dl, TG ≥ 110 mg/dl, HDL < 40 mg/dl, WC > p 90, BP > p 90.

RESULTS: MS was observed in 45 and 22.7% of patients, according to Ferranti and Cook definitions, respectively. WC was the most frequent criteria and glucose was the most uncommon. Males had higher body mass index, WC and TG levels than females. According to Ferranti and Cook definitions, MS prevalence was 53.5 and 28% in males and 37.6 and l8.4% in females (p < 0.05). Fifty and 26.1% of pubertal patients exhibited MS vs 36.9 and 17.5% in pre-pubertal subjects (p < 0.05) using Ferranti and Cook criteria, respectively. The frequency of MS increased along with a higher BMI.

CONCLUSIONS: MS is a prevalent condition in obese children and adolescents, especially in males and pubertal children. It is necessary to have a better and universal definition for MS in pediatrics including all ages, in order to be focused in obesity prevention and treatment.