[Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and associated factors in children and adolescents with obesity].

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in children in Mexico are high, as well as the complications associated with their presence. The objective of this work was to estimate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in obese children and adolescents attending a Hospital Clinic and identify the associated factors.

METHODS: Cross sectional design with 120 children and adolescents; of either sex, with exogenous obesity and BMI > 2.0 standard deviations. Personal and family history was collected, blood pressure was measured and determination of serum glucose, insulin, lipoprotein HDL cholesterol and triglycerides were performed. The presence of metabolic syndrome with the ATPIII, WHO and International Diabetes Federation criteria was identified. The association of metabolic syndrome with different variables was identified with chi square test and calculation of odds ratio.

RESULTS: Mean age was 10.6 ± 2.7 years. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 37.5% to 54.5% depending on the criteria used. The presence of metabolic syndrome was associated with a history of large birth weight (OR= 2.21 [1.01-4.82]), and insulin resistance (OR= 6.53 [2.40-18.2]).

CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is high in this group of children and adolescents with obesity. The history of large birth weight and the presence of insulin resistance should alert us to the presence of the disease.