Risk Factors for
Metabolic Syndrome
Media attention has continually espoused the need for individual weight reduction for the majority of the United States population. Obesity continues to plague residents of this country. Food portions have increased while exercise has decreased. Needless to say people are ‘watching their weight’ as it increases and say to themselves the extra ‘weight is killing me’.
More women die from heart disease than breast cancer. Furthermore,
there is an increasing number of female adolescents and women that are overweight, have diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Is weight a major sign for metabolic syndrome or heart disease? Weight alone is not a major sign for the syndrome. Abdominal obesity and abdominal girth can be major signs.
The metabolic syndrome was initially called Syndrome X. Later it became known as insulin resistance syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of symptoms and has its own diagnostic code. The American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) have established metabolic syndrome guidelines. Women are at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes when three or more of the symptoms are present than those women who have no symptoms. Also, the number of cases of metabolic syndrome increases with the incidence of obesity and with increased age.
Risk Factors
- Abdominal obesity
- Hypertension
- Low HDL cholesterol
- Elevated Triglycerides and total cholesterol
- Glucose intolerance
African American and Hispanic women are at greater risk for developing metabolic syndrome than Caucasians and Asians.
Guidelines: National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)
| Risk Factors | Criteria |
| Abdominal obesity | Waist circumference |
| Women | >35 inches |
| Men | >40 inches |
| Triglycerides | ≥150 mg/dL |
| HDL cholesterol | |
| Women | <50 mg/dL |
| Men | <40 mg/dL |
| Blood Pressure (BP) | ≥130/≥85 mm Hg |
| Fasting blood glucose | ≥110 mg/dL |
Management/Lifestyle Modification
The best strategy to manage metabolic syndrome is prevention and to treat each symptom as it appears.
Lifestyle Modification
- Exercise daily for 30-45 minutes of moderate intensity
- Decrease food portion sizes and eat a nutrient rich diet
- Smoking cessation
- Eliminate hydrogenated fat intake
- Weight reduction
- Increase water intake- 8 to 10 eight ounce glasses per day
- Annual physical exams or as often as indicated
Date of last modification: February 4, 2009
