title: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese children and the relationship between metabolic syndrome criteria.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate metabolic syndrome (MetS) and MetS criteria, and to establish whether metabolic syndrome criteria were associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 451 pubertal obese children (8-18 years old) were enrolled in the study. Patients were divided into three groups according to the degree of steatosis. Antropometric and laboratory measurements of the participants were recorded.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 451 obese children, 217 (48.1%) were diagnosed as having NAFLD and 96 (21.3%) as having MetS. The frequency of abdominal obesity, hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, hyperinsulinemia, dyslipidemia and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) were 61.8% (279), 25.7% (116), 4.4% (20), 54.3% (245), 41% (185) and 2.2% (10), respectively. The prevalence of NAFLD among patients with MetS [73% (70/96)], was significantly higher than the frequency of hypertension [55% (53/96)] and abnormalities of glucose metabolism [23% (22/96)], but almost equal to the frequency of dyslipidemia [78% (75/96)]. The prevalence of MetS criteria were higher in patients with NAFLD than those without NAFLD. Except impaired fasting glucose, blood pressure and T2DM significant difference was found between groups for all. It was observed that the number of MetS criteria increased in parallel with the severity of steatosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  NAFLD in obese children is strongly associated with multiple MetS criteria. In addition to NAFLD is not only a liver disease, but also early mediator that reflects metabolic disorder, and liver ultrasound can be a useful tool for MetS screening.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Şişli Etfal Education and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boyraz
authors.affiliation: Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Erciyes University, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nihal
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hatipoğlu
authors.affiliation: Gulhane Military Medical Faculty, Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Turkey.
authors.forename: Erkan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sarı
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Education and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Arzu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akçay
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Education and Research Hospital, Turkey.
authors.forename: Necati
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taşkın
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Üsküdar University, Turkey. Electronic address: korkutulucan@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Korkut
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ulucan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, Turkey. Electronic address: akteoman@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Teoman
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Akçay
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology; D050171:Dyslipidemias / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence
keywords: Children; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic syndrome criteria; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Obesity