Higher Gravidity and Parity Are Associated with Increased Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome among Rural Bangladeshi Women

Background: Parity increases the risk for coronary heart disease; however, its association with metabolic syndrome among women in low-income countries is still unknown. Objective: This study investigates the association between parity or gravidity and metabolic syndrome in rural Bangladeshi women. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1,219 women aged 15-75 years from rural Bangladesh. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the standard NCEP-ATP III criteria. Logistic regression was used to estimate the association between parity and gravidity and metabolic syndrome, with adjustment of potential confounding variables. Results: Subjects with the highest gravidity (> = 4) had 1.66 times higher odds of having metabolic syndrome compared to those in the lowest gravidity (0-1) (P-trend = 0.02). A similar association was found between parity and metabolic syndrome (P-trend = 0.04), i.e., subjects in the highest parity (> = 4) had 1.65 times higher odds of having metabolic syndrome compared to those in the lowest parity (0-1). This positive association of parity and gravidity with metabolic syndrome was confined to pre-menopausal women (P-trend < 0.01). Among the components of metabolic syndrome only high blood pressure showed positive association with parity and gravidity (P-trend = 0.01 and < 0.001). Neither Parity nor gravidity was appreciably associated with other components of metabolic syndrome. Conclusions: Multi parity or gravidity may be a risk factor for metabolic syndrome.