Objective: To compare the prevalence of metabolic abnormalities (MA) and metabolic syndrome (MS) assessed by different criteria among Brazilian adolescents.
Subjects and methods: Weighted prevalence of MA and MS were estimated using criteria adapted from the International Diabetes Federation (IDF), National Cholesterol Education Program, Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP/ATP III), and the World Health Organization (WHO) in a probabilistic sample of 577 students aged 12-19.
Results: The most prevalent MA was low concentration of HDL-C as per IDF (32.5%) and NCEP/ATP III (41.6%) criteria and hypertension as per the WHO's criterion (12.4%). Prevalence of MS using the NCEP/ATP III criterion (6.04%) was five times higher than the WHO's (1.1%) and the IDF's (1.6%) criteria. As expected, MS was significantly higher among overweight than among non-overweight adolescents.
Conclusion: Low prevalence of MS but high prevalence of some MA were found. These findings suggest that the diagnosis of MA is more relevant in clinical practice especially in overweight adolescents.