Purpose: This study aims to examine the association of anthropometric indices with continuous metabolic syndrome (cMetS) among Iranian children and adolescents.
Methods: This multicentric study was conducted on 14138 students aged 7-18 years, who participated in a national surveillance program. Fasting blood sample was obtained from a subsample of 3843 randomly selected students. Physical examination including the measurement of anthropometric indices and blood pressure was conducted; fasting blood glucose and lipid profile were measured; and cMetS score was computed. Standardized residuals (z-scores) were calculated for MetS components. A higher cMetS score indicates a less favorable metabolic profile. Linear regression models were applied to determine the association between cMetS and anthropometric indices.
Results: The study participants consisted of 3843 children and adolescents (52.3% boys) with mean (SD) age of 12.45 ± 3.04 years. All anthropometric indices had positive correlation with standardized scores of mean arterial pressure, waist circumference and cMetS (P < 0.05). Standardized scores of triglycerides were positively correlated with weight and body mass index (P < 0.05). In multivariate model, general and abdominal obesity, as well as high circumferences of neck, wrist, and hip circumferences increased the standardized cMetS risk score to 1.8, 1.9, 1.6, 1.5 and 1.5, respectively (P < 0.05 for all variables).
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that higher anthropometric indices are associated with higher cMetS risk score in children and adolescents. This information could be valuable for screening and prevention of MetS at population level.
Level of evidence: V, cross-sectional descriptive study (National surveillance study).
Keywords: Abdominal obesity; Adolescents; Anthropometric indices; Children; Continuous metabolic syndrome; General obesity.