A Study on the Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome and its Components among Adults Aged 18–49 Years in an Urban Area of West Bengal

CONTEXT: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is recognized as a major epidemic of the 21(st) century. People with MetS have twice the likelihood of developing and dying from cardiovascular diseases and more than seven times the risk of developing diabetes. AIMS: This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence of MetS and its components among adults who were in their first three decades of adulthood. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a community-based cross-sectional study among 388 subjects aged 18–49 years selected by multistage random sampling in an area of Kolkata, India. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Data collection was done using a structured questionnaire along with anthropometry, blood pressure (BP) measurement, and relevant blood tests. Physical activity was classified by The International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form questionnaire. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16.0 and descriptive statistics were calculated as frequency and percentage. RESULTS: The prevalence of MetS was 44.6% (35.4% in males and 55.6% in females) and prevalence of central obesity, elevated fasting plasma glucose, raised triglyceride, raised BP, and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were 68.6%, 41.5%, 36.1%, 45.1%, and 64.9%, respectively, among the study participants. CONCLUSIONS: This research revealed the high prevalence of MetS and its components in the community. Effective primordial and primary level of prevention along with prevailing secondary or tertiary level of prevention should have been implemented to curtail the epidemic of MetS.