Metabolic syndrome is a name for a group of risk factors that occur together and increases your risk of type 2 diabetes, as well as coronary artery disease and stroke, and new research has suggested that you can measure the likelihood of your child’s wellbeing being affected by the syndrome by their gender, age and various wellness factors.
For the study, which was reported in peer-reviewed journal Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, Amanda Friend, MBChB, Leone Craig, PhD, and Steve Turner, MD of University of Aberdeen, Scotland, carried out a comprehensive and systematic review of the medical literature on metabolic syndrome in children, examining factors such as gender, ethnicity, and geography. Data from 85 studies formed the basis for their article ‘The Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature.’
The results were that overall, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome increased substantially when comparing groups of overweight or obese children to whole populations of youths. There were also significant differences in terms of gender, as boys were more likely to develop metabolic syndrome than girls, and the team found the same was true for older children than their younger counterparts. There was also some evidence to suggest that there’s an association between a child’s ethnicity or region of the world where he or she lives and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, though this association requires further study before it can be confirmed.
According to Ishwarlal (Kenny) Jialal, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal and Director of the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Research and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of California, Davis Medical Centre in Sacramento, ‘The authors should be lauded for their comprehensive and careful review of a group that has been largely ignored, which is children.’
‘They clearly show that increasing age, male sex, and adiposity are risk factors for metabolic syndrome in children,’ as well as having other characteristics associated with the disorder, such as high blood pressure or insulin resistance, Jialal added. ‘They also emphasize the need for future studies to confirm the reported increased prevalence in certain ethnic groups.’
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