ABSTRACT

Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents have become a major public health problem in recent years. As in adults, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in childhood increases in parallel with the high prevalence of obesity in children. Although the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome developed for adults are used for research on metabolic syndrome in childhood, there has been a recent effort to establish diagnostic criteria specific for children. Insulin resistance is the principal metabolic abnormality that is common to the development of the metabolic syndrome in both children and adults. This review summarizes the pathophysiology, definition, clinical course, diagnostic criteria and treatment of metabolic syndrome in childhood.