Affiliations
Department of Pediatrics, Child Growth and Development Research Center, Research Institute for Primordial Prevention of Non-Communicable Disease, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
Affiliations
1 Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
2 Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Modeling in Health Research Center, Institute for Futures Studies in Health, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
3 Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Physiology Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of anthropometric indices with continuous metabolic syndrome (cMetS) risk score components in a large population-based sample of children and adolescents.
Methods
This multi-centric study was performed on 3843 students aged 7–18 years who were selected by multistage, stratified cluster sampling method from 30 provinces of Iran. Demographic, anthropometric and biochemical factors were obtained and standardized residuals (z-scores) were calculated for MetS components. A structural equation modeling approach was applied to evaluate the relationships among the study variables and to implement the subsequent structural modeling.
Results
The mean age of the participants (52.3% boys) was 12.4 ± 3.05 years. Standardized scores of body mass index (ZBMI) and waist circumference (ZWC) had a direct effect on standardized scores of mean arterial pressure (ZMAP) (0.23 and 0.24 in boys and 0.22 and 0.23 in girls, respectively) and triglyceride (ZTG) (0.07 and 0.04 in boys and 0.02 and 0.06 in girls, respectively), but the effect of ZWC was stronger than ZBMI on these variables. Age, socioeconomic status and sedentary behaviors showed a positive direct effect on ZWC (0.01, 0.05 and 0.07 in boys and 0.05, 0.08 and 0.002 in girls, respectively). These variables induced indirect effects on cMets risk score components through ZWC.
Conclusion
The magnitude of association between WC and continuous metabolic syndrome risk score components was higher compared to BMI in school-aged children, emphasizing on paying more attention to central obesity in childhood.