Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in Chinese children and adolescents to provide scientific basis for early prevention of MS in the related populations.
Methods: Studies on CNKI, Wanfangdata, VIP and PubMed databases on related prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Chinese children and adolescents between 2004-2014 were searched. Quality of literatures was evaluated according to the cross-sectional study standard in Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement. Stata 12.0 software was used to estimate the prevalence of MS, as well as on gender, weight and other factors to make subgroup analysis. According to funnel plot and Egger assess publication bias, sensitivity analysis performed by excluding the impact of any article was generated by the combined effect of the value of literature.
Results: This study included 19 papers from the literature (5 in English, 14 in Chinese). According to International Diabetes Federation (IDF), National Cholesterol Education Program III (NCEP III) and The definition and prevention recommends of metabolic syndrome in Chinese children and adolescents (CHN2012), the prevalence rates of MS in Chinese children were seen as 1.8%, 2.6% and 2.0%. According to IDF, the prevalence rates of MS appeared 2.9% in boys and 1.8% in girls, 0.2% in children with normal weight, 4.7% in overweight and 17.3% in obesity. Both the results from NCEPIII and CHN2012 showed that the prevalence rates of MS as boys > girls, obesity > overweight > normal weight.
Conclusion: Prevalence of MS in Chinese children and adolescents showed a general trend. Data under different standards showed different prevalence rates. Obesity appeared an important risk factor of MS, suggesting that in order to control obesity in children, attention should be paid to identifying and carrying out effective interventions on children under overweight or obesity.