This study was designed to explore the associations between nutrient patterns (NPs) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its five components among Chinese children and adolescents aged 7-17. The required data of participants were collected from the China National Nutrition and Health Surveillance of Children and Lactating Mothers in 2016-2017. Ultimately, 13,071 participants were included. Nutrient patterns were obtained by means of factor analysis. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between nutrient patterns with MetS and its components. After adjusting covariates, the results of logistic regression models revealed that high-carbohydrate patterns were associated with the presence of abdominal obesity. The high-animal protein pattern was negatively associated with high triglyceride (TG) and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). The high-sodium-and-fat pattern had a negative relationship with elevated blood pressure (BP) and was positively associated with low HDL-C. The high-Vitamin D-and-Vitamin B12 pattern had protective effects on MetS, high TG, and low HDL-C. Further large-scale longitudinal investigations are necessary in the future.
Keywords: China; children and adolescents; metabolic syndrome; nutrient pattern.