New Approach to the Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome in Children

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a disorder with central obesity, essential hypertension (HT), glucose tolerance disorder, diabetes mellitus (DM), dyslipidaemia, and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), which occurs under the influence of genetic predisposition and is based on insulin resistance (IR). MetS is well defined in adults, although MetS is a complex multifactorial disease with a not entirely recognized definition in childhood. Nevertheless, MetS is described as the presence of obesity, IR, dyslipidaemia, and HT. The increase in the rate of MetS in children is at alarming levels. The first step in the prevention and treatment of MetS is to recommend and implement healthy lifestyle changes from an early age. Healthy lifestyle changes should include not only children but also all family members and should be targeted to be maintained throughout life. One method of preventing CVD in adulthood should be the care of children with MetS. It is necessary to carry out studies to prevent MetS and to measure the effect of these studies on the frequency of MetS. In terms of preventive medicine, children with a family history of T2DM and/or MetS burden, body obesity on physical examination, and IR findings such as acanthosis nigricans should be monitored more closely and early treatment should be initiated in cases with IR at-risk for T2DM. In line with the objectives, continuous training on the evaluation of childhood obesity is necessary for paediatricians and general practitioners.