Ethnic disparities in the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in American adults: data from the Examination of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2010.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey were stratified by weight, gender, and ethnicity for six survey years from 1999 to 2010 for variables that satisfy the criteria for metabolic syndrome (MS). Results showed that 34% of the US adult population had MS. No significant gender disparities in MS prevalence were found. Black men had a significantly lower prevalence of MS than Black women and White men from 1999 to 2008 (P < 0.05). Women had a 60% higher abdominal adiposity than men in the US population (P = 0.00048; pregnant females were excluded). Although there seem to be ethnic differences in the prevalence of MS, the expression of MS is not a sufficient risk to culminate in cardiovascular disease; rather, nutritional, genetic, and environmental factors are necessary to finalize its expression into overt disease.