It was investigated the association of waist circumference (WC), abdominal circumference (AC), Waist-to-Hip ratio(WHR) and Waist-Height ratio (WHtR) adjusted by body mass index (BMI) and % body fat (BF) with metabolic syndrome components in a probabilistic sample of 610 adolescents aged 12-19 years (222 boys and 388 girls) from public schools of Niterói, Rio de Janeiro. Fasting glucose and lipids were assayed using automated enzymatic method and insulin was determined by radioimmuno assay. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure were measured using an automated recorder and % BF by electric bioimpedance. The association of the anthropometric measures with metabolic syndrome components was evaluated by multivariate linear regression adjusted according to the age, BMI or %BF. In boys, a positive association between WC (beta=1.03 p<0.01) and WHtR (beta= 2.33, p< 0.05; beta=2.12 and p< 0.01) with triglycerides was maintained after BMI and % BF adjusting, respectively. WC was associated with SBP after % BF adjusting both for boys (beta= 0.70 p<0.01) and girls (beta=0.68 p<0.01). In conclusion, WC was the measure of central body fat that presented the best association with components of metabolic syndrome in adolescents.