The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among an ethnically/racially diverse group of US 8^th grade adolescents and associations with fasting insulin and HOMA-IR levels

Abstract

Objective: Report the prevalence of the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) defined metabolic syndrome (Met-S) and its components among a cross-sectional sample of racially/ethnically diverse 8^th grade youths, and examine the association between the presence of the syndrome and participant fasting insulin and Homeostasis model of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) levels.

Research Design: Data were from a cross-sectional study with 1453, racially/ethnically diverse 8^th grade students from 12 middle schools in 3 US states (TX, NC and CA). Height, weight, waist circumference and blood pressure were recorded. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for triglycerides, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), glucose and insulin; HOMA-IR was calculated. Gender, race/ethnicity and pubertal stage were self-reported. IDF criteria were used to determine the prevalence of the Met-S. The odds ratio for being classified with the syndrome was calculated by quintiles of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR.

Results: One hundred and thirty eight students (9.5% of the sample) were classified with Met-S. Hispanics were more likely to have high abdominal adiposity and high triglycerides. Males were more likely to have high triglycerides, low HDL-C, high blood pressure and high fasting glucose. Participants in the highest insulin quintile were almost 200 times more likely to be classified with the syndrome than participants in the lowest quintile with comparable associations for HOMA-IR quintiles.

Conclusions: In a racially/ethnically diverse sample of US adolescents 9.5% of participants were identified with the Met-S using the IDF criteria. The likelihood of Met-S classification significantly increased with higher insulin and HOMA-IR values.