Association of Anthropometric Measures with Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Metabolic Syndrome in Normal-Weight Children and Adolescents: The CASPIAN III Study

OBJECTIVE: This nationwide study was conducted to determine the association of anthropometric measures with cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Iranian normal-weight children and adolescents. METHODS: We analyzed the data of 3,565 children and adolescents (50.3% boys), aged 10-18 years, with a normal BMI (5th-84th percentile) obtained from the third survey of ‘Childhood and Adolescence Surveillance and Prevention of Adult Non-communicable Disease’ (CASPIAN III) study. The diagnostic criteria for MetS were defined by the International Diabetes Federation consensus. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS for 10- to 13.9-year-old boys, 14- to 18-year-old boys, 10- to 13.9-year-old girls, and 14- to 18-year-old girls were 1.4, 2.8, 2.3, and 3.3%, respectively. After adjustment for age and sex, each unit increase in BMI (within normal range) and waist circumference increased the odds of MetS from 6 to 72% and from 1 to 20%, respectively. The dominant pattern of dyslipidemia among the participants was high triglycerides and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. CONCLUSION: This study complements recent research about the high frequency of metabolic risk factors among normal-weight individuals in the pediatric age group.