Metabolic Syndrome: Prevalence and Risk Factors among Adolescent Female Intermediate and Secondary Students in Saudi Arabia

Areej Alowfi, Sumayah Binladen, Sumaya Irqsous, Alya Khashoggi, Muhammad Anwar Khan and Ramah Calacattawi
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Areej Alowfi: Family Medicine & Primary Health Care Department, Ministry of the National Guard—Health Affairs, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia
Sumayah Binladen: College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia
Sumaya Irqsous: College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia
Alya Khashoggi: College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia
Muhammad Anwar Khan: College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia
Ramah Calacattawi: College of Medicine, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah 21423, Saudi Arabia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-13

Abstract: Background: Metabolic syndrome (MS) has become one of the major challenges to public health worldwide due to its significant association with increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) among children and adolescents. Therefore, this study aims to determine the prevalence and risk factors of MS in Saudi adolescents. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two female National Guard schools (Um Kalthoom Intermediate School and Zainab Bint Jahsh Secondary School) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between January 2018 and March 2018. Of the 808 female students, 172 (age range of 12–19 years) participated voluntarily, with consent from their guardian(s), fasted for at least 8 h prior to the study, and represent the final study sample. Male students were not included due to cultural constraints in conducting the study. Demographic data, physical measurement (blood pressure, weight, height, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC)), and biochemical measurement (fasting plasma glucose and triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein) were obtained. The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria was utilized in the diagnosis of MS. Results: Of the 172 female adolescents, 24 (13.75%) are overweight, 20 (11.63%) are obese, and 3 (1.74%) are underweight. High-fasting plasma glucose ( n = 85, 49.41%) and high waist circumference ( n = 74, 43.02%) were the most common risk factors of MS among female adolescents. The overall prevalence of MS was 7% ( n = 12/172). MS is more common among those who are obese or among those with a BMI that falls at the ?95th percentile ( n = 6/20, 30.0%) ( p < 0.05) as compared to those who are overweight with a BMI that falls within the 85th to <95th percentiles ( n = 2/24, 8.33%). Interestingly, 3.20% of the sample ( n = 4/125) with normal BMI were diagnosed with MS. Conclusions: Our study indicates that MS is common among obese and overweight female adolescents but is also present among those who are not obese or with normal BMI. Moreover, the prevalence of overweight, obese, and those with MS in this reference population are lower compared to the cities of Makkah and Riyadh; however, it varies widely around the world due to different criteria and cut-off values in the diagnosis of MS.

Keywords: metabolic syndrome; obesity; overweight; Saudi Arabia; adolescents; female; school-aged; hyperlipidemia; hypertension; risk; prevalence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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