Metabolic syndrome and its associated early-life factors in children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study in Guangzhou, China

Objective: The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in 7- to 17-year-old children and adolescents in China and to examine the relationship between MetS and its associated early-life factors. Design: Data were collected using a standard parent/guardian questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. Each participant underwent a complete anthropometric evaluation. MetS was defined according to the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF; 2007) for children and adolescents. Setting: Guangzhou, a large city in South China, September 2013. Subjects: A total of 1770 children and adolescents were enrolled in the study, including 913 girls (51.6 %) and 857 boys (48.4 %). Results: The overall prevalence of MetS in children and adolescents was 1.1 % (n 19), which was higher in boys (1.4 %) than in girls (0.8 %). Multivariate analysis indicated that high birth weight was significantly associated with abdominal obesity (OR=2.86; 95 % CI 1.62, 5.06) and MetS (OR=3.61; 95 % CI 1.33, 9.82). Furthermore, >6 months of maternal breast-feeding was inversely associated with MetS (OR=0.39; 95 % CI 0.16, 0.98). Conclusion: Based on IDF criteria, the prevalence of MetS among southern Chinese children was significantly lower than that in other populations. High birth weight was significantly associated with abdominal obesity and MetS, and breast-feeding for longer than 6 months was inversely associated with MetS in South China.