Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its risk factors among Belgian adults

Abstract

Abstract Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a growing public health concern. It is characterized by the presence of at least three of these five risk factors including abdominal obesity, high triglycerides, hypertension, high blood sugar, and low HDL-cholesterol. Individuals with MetS are at increased risk to develop cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. A better understanding of this syndrome is essential to implement public health prevention actions. The aim of this study is to investigate the prevalence of MetS and its association with risk factors in the Belgian adult population. Methods This study was conducted on the first Belgium Health Examination Survey of 2018 among adults aged 18-90 (n = 1184). MetS was defined based on the Revised-Adult Treatment Panel III (R-ATP III) criteria. Association between risk factors (i.e. socio-demographic and health behavior determinants) and MetS was investigated through a multiple logistic regression (adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95%CI). Results Among the 963 participants with complete data (49 ±15yrs, 51.3% men), we observed an overall prevalence of MetS of 30.9% (95%CI: 27%-35%). MetS is significantly associated with older age (OR 10.2; 95%CI 3.6-28.9), low education (OR 2.6; 95%CI 1.2-5.7), an increasing number of chronic diseases (OR 1.3; 95%CI 1.1-1.5) and BMI. ORs for overweight (BMI > 25 kg/m2), obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2), and severe obesity (BMI > 35 kg/m2) are respectively 3.8 (95%CI 1.9-7.3), 22.6 (95%CI 9.3-54.8) and 65.9 (95%CI 15.9-271.9). No significant associations were found with gender, region, smoking status, alcohol consumption and physical activity. Conclusions Our results showed a high prevalence of MetS in the Belgian population. Identifying MetS high risk groups based on the socio-demographic and behavioral determinants is of major importance to establish preventive measures for cardiovascular diseases and diabetes of the Belgian population. Key messages The overall prevalence of MetS is almost 31% in the Belgian population. Age, education, overweight, obesity and chronic diseases are factors associated with the presence of MetS.