Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in children aged 5-9 years from southwest colombia: a cross-sectional study

  • Original article
  • Published:
World Journal of Pediatrics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Exploration of cardiometabolic alterations in the pre-adolescent stage is necessary to characterize possible patterns for matabolic syndrome (MetS) in the earliest stages of the life. However, defining specific cutoff points for metabolic and vascular markers represents a complex task in pre-adolescent populations. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of MetS and its components in children aged 5-9 years old by using the MetS definition for adolescents with the lowest cut-off points, and evaluate its relationship with overweight and socio-demographic determinants.

Methods

A total of 494 children were evaluated. Multivariate models with filtered variables in preliminary univarite analyses were built to find predictive factors of MetS and its components.

Results

The prevalence of MetS was 8.7% in the studied children. Multivariate models showed that age, overweight and low socioeconomic stratum were associated with MetS; low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was not significantly associated with any variable; high triglycerides were positively associated with age, overweight and inversely associated with kilocalories/day; female gender was the only variable significantly associated with high fasting glucose (inverse association); and age, gender and overweight were significant factors for increased waist circumference. In the case of high blood pressure, no variable was classified to the multivariate analysis.

Conclusion

This study showed disturbing figures regarding cardiometabolic risk in the children based on comparisons with studies in adolescents. Further studies are needed to confirm the utility of the de Ferranti Mets definition in children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Barceló A. Cardiovascular diseases in Latin America and the Caribbean. Lancet 2006;19;368:625–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Escobedo J, Buitrón LV, Velasco MF, Ramírez JC, Hernández R, Macchia A, et al. High prevalence of diabetes and impaired fasting glucose in urban Latin America: the CARMELA study. Diabet Med 2009;26:864–871.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Jolliffe CJ, Janssen I. Development of age-specific adolescent metabolic syndrome criteria that are linked to the Adult Treatment Panel III and International Diabetes Federation criteria. J Am Coll Cardiol 2007;49:891–898.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM, Flegal KM. Prevalence of high body mass index in US children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA 2010;303:242–249.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Magarey AM, Daniels LA, Boulton TJ. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions. Med J Aust 2001;174:561–564.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. McNeill AM, Rosamond WD, Girman CJ, Golden SH, Schmidt MI, East HE, et al. The metabolic syndrome and 11-year risk of incident cardiovascular disease in the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Diabetes Care 2005;28:385–390.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Eckel RH, Grundy SM, Zimmet PZ. The metabolic syndrome. Lancet 2005;365:1415–1428.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Grundy SM, Brewer HB Jr, Cleeman JI, Smith SC, Lenfant C, American Heart Association, et al. Definition of metabolic syndrome: report of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute/American Heart Association conference on scientific issues related to definition. Circulation 2004;109:433–438.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. de Ferranti SD, Gauvreau K, Ludwig DS, Neufeld EJ, Newburger JW, Rifai N. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in American adolescents: findings from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Circulation 2004;110:2494–2497.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Cook S, Weitzman M, Auinger P, Nguyen M, Dietz WH. Prevalence of a metabolic syndrome phenotype in adolescents: findings from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2003;157:821–827.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Zimmet P, Alberti KG, Kaufman F, Tajima N, Silink M, Arslanian S, et al. The metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents-an IDF consensus report. Pediatr Diabetes 2007;8:299–306.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Gomez LF, Parra DC, Lobelo F, Samper B, Moreno J, Jacoby E, et al. Television viewing and its association with overweight in Colombian children: results from the 2005 National Nutrition Survey: a cross sectional study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act 2007;4:41.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Webster PC. Health in Colombia: the chronic disease burden. CMAJ 2012;184:e293-E294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gracia B, de Plata C, Méndez F, Cruz M, Leiva J, Conde L, et al. Evaluation of early manifestations of chronic no transmitted diseases risk in school population in Cali-Colombia. Arch Latinoam Nutr 2005;55:267–278. [In Spanish]

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Cole TJ, Bellizzi MC, Flegal KM, Dietz WH. Establishing a standard definition for child overweight and obesity worldwide: international survey. BMJ 2000;320:1240–1243.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  16. McCarthy HD, Jarrett KV, Crawley HF. The development of waist circumference percentiles in British children aged 5.0-16.9 y. Eur J Clin Nutr 2001;55:902–907.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Aguilar de Plata AC, Pradilla A, Mosquera M, Gracia de Ramírez AB, Ortega JG, Ramírez-Vélez R. Centile values for anthropometric variables in Colombian adolescents. Endocrinol Nutr 2001;58:16–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Avalos C, Díaz C, Martínez A, Bancalari R, Zamorano J, Harbin F, et al. Waist circumference percentiles in children and adolescents between 6 and 14 years from Santiago, Chile. Endocrinol Nutr 2012;59:296–303.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Golley RK, Magarey AM, Steinbeck KS, Baur LA, Daniels LA. Comparison of metabolic syndrome prevalence using six different definitions in overweight pre-pubertal children enrolled in a weight management study. Int J Obes (Lond) 2006;30:853–860.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Casazza K, Dulin-Keita A, Gower BA, Fernandez JR. Differential influence of diet and physical activity on components of metabolic syndrome in a multiethnic sample of children. J Am Diet Assoc 2009;109:236–244.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Brufani C, Fintini D, Giordano U, Tozzi AE, Barbetti F, Cappa M. Metabolic syndrome in italian obese children and adolescents: stronger association with central fat depot than with insulin sensitivity and birth weight. Int J Hypertens 2011;2011:257168.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Pedrosa C, Oliveira BM, Albuquerque I, Simões- Pereira C, Vazde-Almeida MD, Correia F. Obesity and metabolic syndrome in 7-9 years-old Portuguese schoolchildren. Diabetol Metab Syndr 2010;2:40.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Atabek ME, Pirgon O, Kurtoglu S. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in obese Turkish children and adolescents. Diabetes Res Clin Pract 2006;72:315–321.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Agirbasli M, Agaoglu NB, Orak N, Caglioz H, Ocek T, Poci N, et al. Sex hormones and metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. Metabolism 2009;58:1256–1262.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. D’Adamo E, Marcovecchio ML, Giannini C, Capanna R, Impicciatore M, Chiarelli F, et al. The possible role of liver steatosis in defining metabolic syndrome in prepubertal children. Metabolism 2010;59:671–676.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Strufaldi MW, Silva EM, Puccini RF. Metabolic syndrome among prepubertal Brazilian schoolchildren. Diab Vasc Dis Res 2008;5:291–297.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Holst-Schumacher I, Nuñez-Rivas H, Monge-Rojas R, Barrantes-Santamaría M. Components of the metabolic syndrome among a sample of overweight and obese Costa Rican schoolchildren. Food Nutr Bull 2009;30:161–170.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Agudelo-Ochoa GM, Arias-Arteaga R. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in school children and adolescents of the urban area of Medellín, Colombia. IATREIA 2008;21:260–270.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Grandone A, Amato A, del Giudice EM, Perrone L. Low prevalence of impaired fasting glucose in obese adolescents from Southern Europe. Pediatrics 2006;118:2603.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Costa RF, Santos NS, Goldraich NP, Barski TF, Andrade KS, Kruel LF. Metabolic syndrome in obese adolescents: a comparison of three different diagnostic criteria. J Pediatr (Rio J) 2012;88:303–309.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Ford ES, Li C, Zhao G, Pearson WS, Mokdad AH. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among U.S. adolescents using the definition from the International Diabetes Federation. Diabetes Care 2008;31:587–589.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Halley Castillo E, Borges G, Talavera JO, Orozco R, Vargas-Alemán C, Huitrón-Bravo G, et al. Body mass index and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among children and adolescents in two Mexican populations. J Adolesc Health 2007;40:521–526.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Mehairi AE, Khouri AA, Naqbi MM, Muhairi SJ, Maskari FA, Nagelkerke N, et al. Metabolic syndrome among Emirati adolescents: a school-based study. PLoS One 2013;8:e56159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Csábi G, Török K, Jeges S, Molnár D. Presence of metabolic cardiovascular syndrome in obese children. Eur J Pediatr 2000;159:91–94.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Rocchini AP, Katch V, Anderson J, Hinderliter J, Becque D, Martin M, et al. Blood pressure in obese adolescents: effect of weight loss. Pediatrics 1988;82:16–23.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Daniels SR, Morrison JA, Sprecher DL, Khoury P, Kimball TR. Association of body fat distribution and cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents. Circulation 1999;99:541–545.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Rodriguez BL, Fujimoto WY, Mayer-Davis EJ, Imperatore G, Williams DE, Bell RA, et al. Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors in U.S. children and adolescents withdiabetes: the SEARCH for diabetes in youth study. Diabetes Care 2006;29:1891–1896.

    Google Scholar 

  38. Suárez-Ortegón MF, Ramírez-Vélez R, Mosquera M, Méndez F, Aguilar-de Plata C. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in urban Colombian adolescents aged 10-16 years using three different pediatric definitions. J Trop Pediatr 2013;59:145–149.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Diez-Roux AV, Link BG, Northridge ME. A multilevel analysis of income inequality and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Soc Sci Med 2000;50:673–687.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Santos AC, Ebrahim S, Barros H. Gender, socio-economic status and metabolic syndrome in middle-aged and old adults. BMC Public Health 2008;8:62.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  41. Zhan Y, Yu J, Chen R, Gao J, Ding R, Fu Y, et al. Socioeconomic status and metabolic syndrome in the general population of China: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health 2012;12:921.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  42. Lawlor DA, Harro M, Wedderkopp N, Andersen LB, Sardinha LB, Riddoch CJ, et al. Association of socioeconomic position with insulin resistance among children from Denmark, Estonia, and Portugal: cross sectional study. BMJ 2005;331:183.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  43. Agudelo GM, Bedoya G, Estrada A, Patiño FA, Muñoz AM, Velásquez CM. Variations in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in adolescents according to different criteria used for diagnosis: which definition should be chosen for this age group? Metab Syndr Relat Disord 2014;12:202–209.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Martino F, Puddu PE, Pannarale G, Colantoni C, Zanoni C, Martino E, et al. Metabolic syndrome among children and adolescents from Southern Italy: contribution from the Calabrian Sierras Community Study (CSCS). Int J Cardiol 2014;177:455–460.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  45. Qorbani M, Kelishadi R, Farrokhi-Khajeh-Pasha Y, Motlagh M, Aminaee T, Ardalan G, et al. Association of anthropometric measures with cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome in normal-weight children and adolescents: the CASPIAN III study. Obes Facts 2013;6:483–492.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Population Health Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Colombia

    Milton Fabian Suarez-Ortegón

  2. Nutrition Group, University of Valle, Cali, Colombia

    Milton Fabian Suarez-Ortegón & Cecilia Aguilar-de Plata

  3. Physiological Sciences Department, University of Valle, Cali, Colombia

    Cecilia Aguilar-de Plata

Authors
  1. Milton Fabian Suarez-Ortegón
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Cecilia Aguilar-de Plata
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Milton Fabian Suarez-Ortegón.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Suarez-Ortegón, M.F., Aguilar-de Plata, C. Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in children aged 5-9 years from southwest colombia: a cross-sectional study. World J Pediatr 12, 477–483 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-016-0008-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12519-016-0008-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation