Can the Metabolic Syndrome be Defined in Children?

The metabolic syndrome has garnered attention as a clustering of cardio-metabolic abnormalities linked to obesity and insulin resistance. It was organically defined as an attempt to identify obese adults at high risk for premature cardiovascular disease. The recognition and reporting of this clustering of risk factors has emerged in pediatric populations. These reports have sparked significant debate on the utility of such a definition among children or teens, especially for clinical use. The lack of agreement on cut-points or to even define the disease still persists despite it being reported in the pediatrics literature for over a decade. This report highlights recent papers describing additional associations with cardio-metabolic clustering. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.