title: Racial/ethnic discrepancies in the metabolic syndrome begin in childhood and persist after adjustment for environmental factors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Evaluation of metabolic syndrome (MetS) characteristics across an age spectrum from childhood to adulthood has been limited by a lack of consistent MetS criteria for children and adults and by a lack of adjustment for environmental factors. We used the pediatric and adult International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria to determine whether gender-specific and race-specific differences in MetS and its components are present in adolescents as in adults after adjustment for socio-economic status (SES) and lifestyle factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Waist circumference, blood pressure, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, and fasting glucose measures were obtained from 3100 adolescent (12-19 years) and 3419 adult (20-69 years) non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black, and Mexican-American participants of the 1999-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. We compared odds of having MetS and its components across racial/ethnic groups by age group, while adjusting for income, education, physical activity and diet quality. After adjusting for possible confounding influences of SES and lifestyle, non-Hispanic-black adolescent males exhibited a lower odds of MetS and multiple components (abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL, hyperglycemia) compared to non-Hispanic-white and Mexican-American adolescents. Compared to non-Hispanic-white adolescent males, Mexican-American adolescent males had less hypertension. There were no differences in MetS prevalence among adolescent females, though non-Hispanic-black girls exhibited less hypertriglyceridemia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Racial/ethnicity-specific differences in MetS and its components are present in both adolescence and adulthood, even after adjusting for environmental factors. These data help strengthen arguments for developing racial/ethnic-specific MetS criteria to better identify individuals at risk for future cardiovascular disease.
authors: Department of Pediatrics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, P.O. Box 800386, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA.
authors: S E
authors: SE
authors: Walker
authors: M J
authors: MJ
authors: Gurka
authors: M N
authors: MN
authors: Oliver
authors: D W
authors: DW
authors: Johns
authors: M D
authors: MD
authors: DeBoer
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology; D008019:Life Style; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D055105:Waist Circumference; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D014280:Triglycerides