Premetabolic syndrome and clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors in White, Black and Mexican American adults

BackgroundDespite the increasing prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated sequalae in the United States, little is known about the epidemiology of its precursors, including premetabolic syndrome (PreMetS). The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of PreMetS in White, Black and Mexican American adults. This study also sought to describe joint occurrences of cardiometabolic components of MetS in the three racial/ethnic groups.MethodsData (n = 2113) from the 2003–2004 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys were used for this investigation. PreMetS was defined as having two of the following cardiometabolic risk factors: abdominal obesity, hypertension, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL-C and impaired fasting blood glucose.ResultsThe overall age-adjusted prevalence of PreMetS in the U.S. was 29.4% (20% in men and 29.8% in women). In men, prevalences were 22.4%, 17.7% and 19.4% in White, Black and Mexican American, respectively. The corresponding values in women were 26.2%, 35.1% and 33%, respectively. White men had significantly greater clustering of cardiometabolic risk factors. The joint occurrence of abdominal obesity and hypertension was the most frequent comorbidity with prevalence of 26.9%, 12.8% and 16.8% in White men, Black men and Mexican American men, respectively. The analogous values in women were 30.9%, 38.6% and 30.3%, respectively.ConclusionPrevalence of PreMetS in the three U.S. major racial/ethnic groups may be driven by abdominal obesity. Programs to reduce prevalence of MetS should include obesity reduction and may work if tailored toward and along gender and race/ethnicity.