Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome in Korean Children and Adolescents according to the International Diabetes Federation Definition in Children and Adolescents

Background: Many children and adolescents are exposed to the risk of cardiovascular diseases because of increase in obesity and obesity-related metabolic derangements in children and adolescents. The diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome is useful to identify these children with high cardiovascular risk. In 2007, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) presented a new definition of the metabolic syndrome for children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome using the IDF pediatric definition in Korean children and adolescents. Methods: We used data from 931 participants aged 10-19 years in the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2005. The metabolic syndrome was diagnosed by the new IDF pediatric definition. Results: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Korean children and adolescents aged 10-19 years was 2.0 +/- 0.5% (boys: 3.1 +/- 0.8%, girls: 0.8 +/- 0.4%). Approximately 95% of children and adolescents with the metabolic syndrome was classified with obesity and none of the normal-weighted participants were diagnosed with the metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Korean children and adolescents was 2.0 +/- 0.5%. It is expected that the new IDF pediatric definition will help to detect children with high cardiovascular risk early and to manage them properly. However, whether the IDF pediatric defi nition of the metabolic syndrome and cut-off points of its components are appropriate for Korean children and adolescents should be answered through future research.