Metabolic syndrome risk assessment in children: use of a single score

OBJECTIVE: To calculate a score of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in children and set a cutoff point of this score for the prediction of MetS risk. METHODS: The study included a random sample of 348 children aged 8 and 9 years of Viçosa, Southeast Brazil. Factor analysis by principal components (PCA) was used to determine, among various risk factors, those with higher degrees of intercorrelation. The chosen variables were: waist circumference (PC), homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA), high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglycerides (TAG) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). Z-scores were created for each one of these parameters and the sum of these z-scores constituted the MetS score. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to identify the cutoff of MetS score, using as gold standard the presence or absence of MetS determined according to criteria age-modified. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS in the sample was 8.9% by adopting specific criteria for age, and 24% when considering the cutoff of MetS score. The selected cutoff point of 1.86 was accurate to predict the MetS risk in this sample due to its high sensitivity (96.7%), specificity (82.7%) and AUC of 0.96. CONCLUSIONS: This original Brazilian study presents the MetS score as a suitable alternative for the study of Metabolic Syndrome in children, given the lack of consensus for the definition of this syndrome in childhood.