Metabolic Syndrome in Paediatric Population: Is it Time to Think Back on Diagnosis Criteria?

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) represents an emerging disease in the paediatric population; it is characterised by a cluster of cardiometabolic abnormalities, including visceral obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes mellitus, that directly increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Currently, several definitions of MetS are available in the paediatric setting, causing confusion and discrepancy in the identification of these patients. Moreover, in recent years, several other comorbidities, besides those traditionally used to define MetS, which are also linked to the disease have been identified, making its definition even more difficult. Among these, mainly non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obstructive sleep disorders have been strictly linked to MetS. In this review, we discuss the importance to re-evaluate diagnostic criteria for MetS, in order to uniformly define this disease in children, considering also the inclusion of the other emerging clinical features.

Keywords

• cardiovascular risk
• children
• Metabolic Syndrome
• non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
• Obesity