ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: This retrospective, cross-sectional study utilizes South Korea’s KNHANES database from 2007 to 2020 to investigate the additive impact of parental metabolic syndrome (MetS) on their offspring and to determine if this varies depending on the gender of the child.

Method: The study population was narrowed down to 5,245 participants and was divided into gender groups. Each gender was further divided into three groups as follows: children with neither parent having MetS labeled as “No”, those with only one affected parent were labeled as “Either”, and those with both parents affected were labeled as “Both”. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression analysis were used to compare the cardiometabolic risk factors among three groups.

Results: The mean values of the children’s metabolic components, such as waist circumference (WC) SDS, blood pressure (BP), triglyceride (TG), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), tended to show differences among the three groups in both genders. Percentile values of elevated WC, elevated BP, elevated TG, and an overall diagnosis of metabolic syndrome were similarly different among the groups. However, after adjusting for confounders, statistically significant differences were present in only a few comparisons. The results varied by children’s gender as well. In girls, only systolic BP showed a significant difference between the “Either” and the “Both” groups, whereas systolic BP, total cholesterol (T-C), TG, and LDL-c were significantly different in boys. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for MetS and its components, including BP and TG significantly increased in the “Either” group in both genders. As of the “Both” group, girls did not show a significant change in the aOR of MetS whereas boys exhibited a significant increase in most aORs.

Conclusion: Overall, metabolic risk factors in boys were more associated with parental MetS than in girls. The number of parental MetS cases appeared to have a proportional impact on the metabolic components in boys, unlike the variable results observed in girls. These results emphasize the need for more targeted interventions in families with a history of MetS.