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

Document Type

Article

Department

Family Medicine

Abstract

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 6-11 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 Centres for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC)-defined categories of body mass index (BMI=kg/m2 ) for normal weight (<85th percentile), overweight (≥85th to 94th percentile) and obese (≥95th percentiles). MetS was defined according to National Cholesterol Education Program's (NCEP) / Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria.
Results: Of the total 234 siblings aged 6-11 years, 8.9% (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 5.6-13.4) had MetS. The prevalence of MetS increased with the severity of obesity, 4.5% in normal, 16.7% in overweight and 30.0% in obese subjects. The age, sex and ethnicity adjusted odds (1.55, 95% CI: 1.23-1.96) of MetS increased significantly with per unit increase in BMI.
Conclusions: The prevalence of MetS in study subjects increased with an increase in BMI. School-based interventions targeting metabolic risks in this population are urgently needed.

Comments

Volume, issue, and pagination are not provided by the author/publisher

Publication (Name of Journal)

Pediatric Diabetes

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS