Prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Brazilian children using three different sets of international criteria.

BACKGROUND the aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Brazilian children aged 6-10 years between three different international criteria. METHODS systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP and DBP), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, and insulin levels were measured in 290 schoolchildren, and the presence of metabolic syndrome was analyzed according to the criteria established by Cook, Boney, and Ferreira. RESULTS the prevalences of metabolic syndrome were 2.27 % (Boney and Ferreira criteria) and 7.58 % (Cook criteria) for girls, and 3.8 % (Boney and Ferreira criteria) and 5.06 % (Cook criteria) for boys. Agreement in pairs showed a concordance of 57.5 % (Kappa = 0.57) between Boney and Cook criteria, and 65.2 % (Kappa = 0.65) between Cook and Ferreira. The greatest concordance found was 77 % (Kappa = 0.77) between Boney and Ferreira criteria, demonstrating a substantial agreement. CONCLUSION prevalences according to Boney and Ferreira criteria were lower than according to Cook criteria. Therefore, we suggest the use of Cook criteria in clinical practice for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, since these criteria provided a wider diagnostic range, thereby reducing the risk of underdiagnosis.