Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction

Metabolic syndromeis the association in the same individual of a number of cardiovascular risk factors, namely abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure and glucose intolerance. The objective of this study is to analyze the clinical and paraclinic characteristics of obese and overweight children in order to look for the elements of metabolic syndrome in these children

Methods

We carried out a retrospective and analytical study, we included children admitted for explorations of obesity to the department of endocrinology of the Hédi Chaker Hospital in Sfax between January 2015 and December 2019. Obesity was defined by a BMI greater than the 97th percentile according to the French reference curves. Abdominal obesity was retained if waist circumference is greater than 90° percentile depending on age and sex according to the American reference curve for children of European origin. The metabolic syndrome was defined according to the child-adapted NCEP-ATPIII.

Results

The study population consisted of 84 children, 44 boys and 40 girls. 71.4% of patients come from an urban area. Family history of obesity was recorded in 84.5% of cases. The average weight at first consultation was 72.68 kg (20–125 kg), average waist circumference was 98.7 cm (65–145 cm) and Average BMI was 31.55 kg/m². Obesity was primary in 96.4% of cases, 1st class in 21% of cases and 2nd class in 79% of cases. The obesity complications were cardiovascular in 4.8%, mechanical in 4.8% of cases, respiratory 7.1% of cases. and metabolic in 22% of cases. according to the criteria of NCEPATPIII adapted for the child 22.2% of patients had a metabolic syndrome. this metabolic syndrome was noted in 20.6% of boys and in 24% of girls, HTA was present in 4 patients (4.8%). Android fat distribution was present in 69 patients (82%). The mean HDL cholesterol was 1.12 mmol/l, and the mean triglycerides was 1.1 mmol/l. Twenty four percent of patients who hada family history of obesity and none of the patients without family history of obesity had a metabolic syndrome. In our series, metabolic syndrome was 6% in children under 10 years, 25% in children 10–15 years, and 36.4% in children above 15 years.

Conclusion

In our study, 22% of all children included had a metabolic syndrome. this high prevalence requires the research of this pathology in at-risk children, particularly children who are obese and aged above 10, to prevent complications in adulthood.