The metabolic syndrome and associated risk factors in an urban industrial male population in South India.

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome is characterized by clustering of risk factors, which predisposes subjects to increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Objectives of this study were to estimate prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and determine the association of risk factors with the metabolic syndrome in an urban industrial male population in Chennai, India. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey for male employees working in an industrial unit. The survey included questionnaire for risk factors, anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Blood samples were collected for the fasting plasma glucose, serum cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. The metabolic syndrome was defined using International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and American Heart Association (AHA)/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) criteria. RESULTS: The total numbers of male subjects included in the study were 1077. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 41.3% and 51.4% using IDF and AHA/NHLBI criteria respectively. Risk factors were age above 35 years, family history of diabetes and body mass index (BMI) above 23.9 kg/m2. The consumption of more than three servings of fruits and vegetables was protective. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was very high in select industrial population in south India. Higher BMI and low intake of fruits and vegetables are modifiable by life style modification. Work site screening for the metabolic syndrome would facilitate the early detection and treatment.

A comparison of anthropometric indices for predicting hypertension and type 2 diabetes in a male industrial population of Chennai, South India.

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association of four obesity-related indices--body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-stature ratio (WSR)--with hypertension and type 2 diabetes among a male industrial population in south India. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: A cross sectional study of 2148 men aged 18-69 years in two purposely selected industrial units in Chennai, India, in 2003-2005. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The examination included blood pressure and anthropometric measurements (height, weight, hip circumference, and WC) to calculate BMI, WHR, and WSR. Fasting blood samples were taken to assess plasma glucose. RESULTS: Prevalence of overweight was 43.4%; prevalences of central obesity using WC > or = 90.0 cm and WHR > 0.90 were 50.0% and 70%, respectively. The prevalences of hypertension and type 2 diabetes were 26.5% and 16.3%, respectively. There was a significant increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes and hypertension across the quintiles for the four anthropometric indices. In logistic regression analysis, BMI and WC showed a significant graded increase in the odds ratio for hypertension after adjusting for age. In case of type 2 diabetes, only WHR showed significant increase in odds ratio across quintiles after adjusting for age and BMI. CONCLUSIONS: WHR was the best predictor for type 2 diabetes in the study sample. BMI and WC were good predictors for hypertension. We recommend that WHR should be routinely used in this clinical setting in addition to BMI to detect persons at high risk in these industrial units. Prospective studies are needed to provide evidence of the predictive power of anthropometric indices for Asian Indians.