Metabolic syndrome in obese children and adolescents in Serbia: prevalence and risk factors

Objective: To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in obese children and adolescents in Serbia. Subjects and methods: The study group consisted of 254 subjects (148 female and 106 male), aged 4.6-18.9 years with diet-induced obesity (body mass index >= 95th percentile). Presence of MS using the International Diabetes Federation definition was assessed in all subjects, as well as oral glucose tolerance test and insulin resistance indices. Results: Overall prevalence of MS in all subjects aged >= 10 years was 31.2%, namely, 28.7% in children aged 10 to <16 years and 40.5% in adolescents >= 16 years. When adjusted for age, gender and pubertal development, higher degree of obesity was a strong predictor of MS. Multivariate analysis showed that taller subjects and those with higher degree of insulin resistance were at significantly higher risk of MS, independent of the degree of obesity. Conclusions: High prevalence of MS emphasizes the need for prevention and treatment of childhood obesity.