Metabolic Syndrome in School Children

Abstract

The problem of excessive weight and obesity is increasing world-wide. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are over 1.6 billion overweight and 400 million obese people in the world; in 2015, these figures are expected to reach 2.3 billion and 700 million, respectively. Ninety percent of obese adolescents are at risk of becoming obese adults; 75% of obese 12-year-olds go on to become obese adults; of 7-year-olds, 41% of obese ones become obese in adulthood; 25% of those obese in the pre-school period become obese adults; and 14% of obese infants are at risk of becoming obese adults. The presence of childhood obesity increases the risk of non-communicable diseases such as metabolic syndrome (MS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension (HT), hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers (1). In clinical studies, the prevalence of MS in childhood was found to be approximately 3-4%. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of MS in southwest part of Turkey.