title: Screening of metabolic syndrome in obese children: a primary care concern.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in a primary care pediatric setting and to collect clinical and biochemical data, allowing for a prediction of its presence in a supposedly healthy population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Belonging to a pediatric population followed by pediatricians of the Italian National Health Service, 415 subjects with obesity as a unique selection criterion were enrolled. The entire cohort was screened for MS, which was defined as the presence of at least 2 other findings out of obesity: fasting hyperglycemia, low levels of high-density lipoproteins cholesterol, hypertriglyceridemia, and hypertension.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall prevalence of MS was 30.8%. Major findings (out of obesity) were low high-density lipoproteins cholesterol levels (46.2%), hypertension (23.6%), hypertriglyceridemia (22.2%), and fasting hyperglycemia (16.6%). Waist-to-height ratio was the only clinical parameter directly related to MS, with the same predictive power of insulin resistance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Metabolic syndrome can be present in a significant percentage of "healthy" obese children, and a simple clinical parameter could identify at-risk subjects. This observation justifies the development and implementation of pediatric networks for obesity screening programs.
authors: Primary Care Pediatrics, ASL Salerno, Italy.
authors: Domenico
authors: D
authors: Viggiano
authors: Gianpaolo
authors: G
authors: De Filippo
authors: Domenico
authors: D
authors: Rendina
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Fasolino
authors: Norma
authors: N
authors: D'Alessio
authors: Natalia
authors: N
authors: Avellino
authors: Maria Carmela
authors: MC
authors: Verga
authors: Antonio Giosué
authors: AG
authors: Prisco
authors: Felice Antonio
authors: FA
authors: Sorrentino
authors: Paola
authors: P
authors: Sabatini
authors: Francesco
authors: F
authors: Chiarelli
mesh_terms: D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence; D012372:ROC Curve; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL