Screening of metabolic syndrome in obese children: a primary care concern.
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.
Viggiano
Domenico
D
Primary Care Pediatrics, ASL Salerno, Italy.
De Filippo
Gianpaolo
G
Rendina
Domenico
D
Fasolino
Antonio
A
D'Alessio
Norma
N
Avellino
Natalia
N
Verga
Maria Carmela
MC
Prisco
Antonio Giosué
AG
Sorrentino
Felice Antonio
FA
Sabatini
Paola
P
Chiarelli
Francesco
F
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
D015415:Biomarkers; D008075:Lipoproteins, HDL