Association between adolescence obesity and metabolic syndrome: Evidence from Isfahan Healthy Heart Program

BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is more prevalent among Iranian adolescences. This study aimed to find the relationship between obesity and MetS among different education grades of Iranian adolescence. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Overall, 1039 junior high school and 953 high school students were selected using multistage random sampling. Fasting blood sugar, total cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) were measured. Trained individuals measured waist circumference and blood pressure. MetS was defined according to the De Ferranti definition. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 12.6% and 6.2% in junior and 11.5% and 4.3% in high school students, respectively. Obese subjects in both grades have higher waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and triglyceride than comparable groups. Multiple logistic regression models showed that overweight and obesity were strongly associated with MetS components analyzed. Compared to normal-weight children, overweight and obese in junior high school students were 1.47 and 2.23 times more likely to be having high TG, respectively, whereas overweight and obese in high school-students were also more likely to have elevated TG [ORs 1.94 (1.28-2.94), 4.96 (2.39-10.3) respectively]. CONCLUSION: Obese children have the highest prevalence of MetS. Prevalence of MetS-related components has reached high level among Iranian adolescences that were overweight or obese.