Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, USA. eford@cdc.gov
OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome using the 2007 pediatric International Diabetes Federation (IDF) definition among adolescents in the U.S. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We used data from 2,014 participants aged 12-17 years of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004. RESULTS: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome for the period 1999-2004 was approximately 4.5% ( approximately 1.1 million adolescents aged 12-17 years in 2006). It increased with age, was higher among males (6.7%) than females (2.1%) (P = 0.006), and was highest among Mexican-American adolescents (7.1%). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was relatively stable across the 6-year period: 4.5% for 1999-2000, 4.4-4.5% for 2001-2002, and 3.7-3.9% for 2003-2004 (P for linear trend >0.050). CONCLUSIONS: Our results provide the first estimates of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome using the pediatric IDF definition among adolescents in the U.S.