The Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Children and Adolescents: Comparisons of the Criteria of Cook et al., Cruz and Goran, and Ferranti et al.

PURPOSE: Although the metabolic syndrome (MS), which can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or diabetes mellitus (DM), is increasing in children and adolescents, no unified criteria have been established, and little attention has been paid to its occurrence in Korean children and adolescents. In this study, we compared the prevalence of the MS in Korean children and adolescents using the criteria which were modified for children and adolescents by Cook et al., Cruz and Goran, and Ferranti et al. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population was a nationwide representative sample of 3,431 children and adolescents (1,828 boys and 1,603 girls) from the 2001 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), who were aged 10 - 19 years (mean 14.1 ± 2.8), underwent a physical examination, and fasted for 8 hours before collecting blood samples. RESULTS: The rates of the MS were 6.1, 5.3, and 14.0% according to the criteria of Cruz and Goran, Cook et al., and Ferranti et al., respectively, and the agreement rate of the three sets of criteria was 88.7%. CONCLUSION: Unified criteria for the MS and a strategy for reducing obesity in children and adolescents will be necessary to prevent the occurrence of this syndrome.