Prevalence of the Metabolic Syndrome Among Adult New Zealanders of Polynesian and European Descent

Abstract

The metabolic syndrome describes the clustering of risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease (1). New Zealand Polynesians of both Maori and Pacific descent have high rates of conponents for the metabolic syndrome: type 2 diabetes (2), obesity (2), hypertension (3), dyslipidemia (4), and coronary heart disease (5,6). There have been no previous reports of the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in New Zealand since the release of the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III criteria (7). In this study, we compare the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome by ATP III criteria among New Zealanders of European and Polynesian descent. Residents from a household census in South Auckland were randomly selected using a sampling framework stratified by age, sex, and ethnic group as previously described (2). At each house, questionnaires were completed; weight, height, and waist were measured; and a random venous sample was taken for glucose measurement (into fluoride; spun, chilled, and assayed within 3 h). Those without known diabetes and either a random glucose ≥6.5 mmol/l within 2 h of a meal or ≥6 mmol/l ≥2 h after a meal (defined as “screen positives”), as well as a random control group (28% of other subjects; defined as “screen negatives”) were invited for a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). At the OGTT, fasting samples were also taken for lipids (total, HDL, and …