Impact of demographic and dietary behavior on prevalence of metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in Egyptian adolescents

Nebal Abdel-Rahman, National Nutrition Institute, Cairo
Dina I Shehab, National Nutrition Institute, Cairo
Awatif Abdel Maksoud, National Nutrition Institute, Cairo
Mervat Ismail, National Nutrition Institute, Cairo

Objectives: Screening for metabolic syndrome in adolescents and estimation of risk factors. Design: A multilevel study of 4250 Egyptian adolescents from 6 governorates, derived from the 2004-2007 Egyptian survey on "Diet, Nutrition, and prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases". Lab risk factors; lipid, fasting blood glucose, C reactive protein, and homocysteine were measured and body mass index and blood pressure were assessed. Results: Nationwide prevalence is 7.4% with no sex or area of residence predilection. Multivariate regression analysis showed that risk factors explained 57.5% of variation in prevalence and total model significance was P<0.000. Being inactive,and having positive family history of obesity and diabetes mellitus increased the odds significantly (1.9, 1.68 , and 1.3 respectively) as the presence of high levels of C-reactive protein (odds ratio, 2.2; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.11 to 4.34). Conclusion: Early detection of adolescents having the tendency for metabolic syndrome might hold promise for enhanced prevention of cardiovascular disease.