Prevalence of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype in Iranian adolescents.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: No evidence exists regarding the prevalence of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype in adolescents. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of this phenotype in a representative sample of Tehranian adolescents. METHODS: Anthropometry and serum triglyceride concentration were assessed in a population-based cross-sectional study of 3036 Tehranian adolescents (1413 male and 1623 female) aged 10 to 19 years in 1998. Hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype was defined as concurrently having serum triglyceride concentration>or=110 mg/dL and waist circumference equal to or greater than the 90th percentile for age and gender. Overweight (>or=95th percentile) and at risk for overweight (>or=85th to <95th percentile) was defined based on the standardized percentile curves of body mass index suggested for Iranian adolescents. RESULTS: The prevalence of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype was 6.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]=5.5-7.2) among Tehranian adolescents (males 7.3%, CI=5.9-8.7; females 5.6%, CI=4.4-6.7). When examined by body mass index category, 38.7% of overweight adolescents had a hypertriglyceridemic waist compared to 7.7% of adolescents at risk for overweight and 0.7% of adolescents at normal weight (p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study provides evidence showing that the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype is prevalent among 6.5% of Tehranian adolescents, and particularly among overweight adolescents.