Background and objectives: The purpose of our study was to estimate the national prevalence of metabolic syndrome, its individual components and its changes in the past decade.
Methods and study design: Two national-representative cross-sectional surveys: the China National Nutrition and Health Survey 2002 (CNNHS 2002) and the Chinese National Nutrition and Health Surveillance 2010-2012 (CNNHS 2010-2012). A total of 48,235 and 104,098 participants aged 18 years or older who had completed data on physical examination, blood lipids, and fasting glucose tests from CNNHS 2002 and CNNHS 2010-2012, respectively, were included in current study.
Results: The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in Chinese adults increased from 9.5% (95% confident interval [CI]: 9.2%-9.7%) in 2002 to 18.7% (18.3%-19.1%) in 2010-2012, corresponding to an estimated 83.6 million adults in 2002 and 189 million adults in 2010-2012 living with metabolic syndrome in China. The increment was more than doubled among young, rural residents and those from poor households. Abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, low HDL-C, and elevated blood pressure were found in 18.9% (18.5%-19.3%), 6.4% (6.2%-6.7%), 13.8% (13.5%-14.2%), 19.3% (18.9%-19.7%), and 34.0% (33.5%-34.5%) of adults in 2002, respectively, which was 25.8% (25.3%-26.2%), 16.2% (15.8%-16.5%), 23.7% (23.3%-24.2%), 32.6% (32.0%-33.1%), and 34.4% (33.9%-34.9%), respectively, in 2010-2012.
Conclusions: Based on two nationally representative surveys, our results indicated that the prevalence of metabolic syndrome is widespread and increasing in China.