J Korean Med Sci.  2014 Dec;29(12):1672-1677. 10.3346/jkms.2014.29.12.1672.

Comparison between a Pediatric Health Promotion Center and a Pediatric Obesity Clinic in Detecting Metabolic Syndrome and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children

• Yang HR
• Yi DY
• Choi HS

• KMID: 2069957
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2014.29.12.1672

Abstract

This study was done to evaluate the efficacy of health check-ups in children in detecting metabolic syndrome and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) by comparing the pediatric health promotion center with the pediatric obesity clinic. Children who visited a pediatric health promotion center (n=218) or a pediatric obesity clinic (n=178) were included. Anthropometric data, blood pressure, laboratory tests, and abdominal ultrasonography were evaluated. Two different criteria were applied to diagnose metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the 2 units was 3.2%-3.7% in a pediatric health promotion center and 23%-33.2% in a pediatric obesity clinic. Significant differences were observed in the prevalence of each component of metabolic syndrome between the 2 units including abdominal adiposity, blood pressure, serum triglycerides, and fasting blood glucose (P<0.05). The prevalence of NAFLD was 8.7% and 71.9% in the 2 units according to liver enzymes and 5.9% and 61.8% according to ultrasonography (P<0.05). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome and NAFLD was higher among patients visiting the obesity clinic targeting obese children than that among patients visiting the health promotion center offering routine check-ups. An obesity-oriented approach is required to prevent obesity-related health problems in children.

Keyword

Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome; Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; Prevalence; Child

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Causality
Child
Child, Preschool
Comorbidity
Female
Health Promotion/*utilization
Humans
Male
Metabolic Syndrome X/*diagnosis/epidemiology
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/*diagnosis/epidemiology
Obesity/*diagnosis/epidemiology
Physical Examination/*statistics & numerical data
Prevalence
Reproducibility of Results
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Sensitivity and Specificity
Young Adult

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