Abstract
BackgroundObesity and metabolic syndrome is prevalent among Malaysian adolescents and has been associated with certain behavioural factors such as duration of sleep, screen time and physical activity. The aim of the study is to report the prevalence of overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome and its risk factors among adolescents.MethodsA multi-staged cluster sampling method was used to select participants from urban and rural schools in Selangor, Perak and Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur. Participants underwent anthropometric measurement and physical examination including blood pressure measurement. Blood samples were taken for fasting glucose and lipids and participants answered a self-administered questionnaire. Overweight and obesity was defined using the extrapolated adult body mass index (BMI) cut-offs of >25 kg/m2 and >30 kg/m2, according to the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) criteria. Metabolic syndrome was defined based on International Diabetes Federation (IDF) 2007 criteria.ResultsData were collected from 1361 participants. After excluding incomplete data and missing values for the variables, we analysed a sample of 1014 participants. Prevalence of overweight and obesity in this population was 25.4% (N = 258). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 2.6% in the population and 10% among the overweight and obese adolescents. Participants who slept between 7 and 9 hours a day has a lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome OR 0.38(0.15-0.94).ConclusionOur results provide the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Malaysian adolescents. Adequate sleep between 7 and 9 hours per day reduces the risk of developing metabolic syndrome.
Highlights
The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) in the year 2000, established the definition of overweight and obesity in childhood, based on pooled international data for body mass index (BMI) linked to the adult overweight and obesity cut-off of 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 respectively [1]
A few definitions of metabolic syndrome that has been adapted for use in children and adolescents includes the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) [9], American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) [10], World Health Organization (WHO) [11,12] and European Group for the Study of Insulin resistance (EGIR) [13]
The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition is divided into age groups due to the age related differences in blood pressure, lipid levels, and body size in children and adolescents [14]
Summary
The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) in the year 2000, established the definition of overweight and obesity in childhood, based on pooled international data for body mass index (BMI) linked to the adult overweight and obesity cut-off of 25 kg/m2 and 30 kg/m2 respectively [1]. With the growing obesity epidemic within the adolescent population, this has Metabolic syndrome is an interrelated cluster of conditions including visceral adiposity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension and hyperglycaemia. Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of, abdominal obesity and 2 or more of these criterias (elevated triglycerides, low level of high density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high blood pressure and high fasting plasma glucose). With this new definition, few studies have reported the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in their population [7,15,16,17]. The aim of the study is to report the prevalence of overweight/obesity, metabolic syndrome and its risk factors among adolescents
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