Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among Korean adults according to the criteria of the International Diabetes Federation.

The metabolic syndrome is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (1,2). In 2005, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) formulated a new, clinically accessible worldwide definition of the metabolic syndrome in a global consensus statement (3) built on earlier definitions (4,5). According to the IDF, central obesity is an essential component of the metabolic syndrome. Moreover, central obesity must be determined by ethnicityand sex-specific cutoff values for waist circumference. The IDF also sets the cutoff value for raised fasting plasma glucose concentration at 100 mg/dl, which is 10 mg/dl lower than that of the NCEP ATP III (National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults, Adult Treatment Panel III) (5). In agreement with the IDF proposal, the Korean Society for the Study of Obesity defined the cutoff values of waist circumference for central obesity among Korean adults as 90 cm for men and 85 cm for women (6). There is insufficient data about the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome according to the new worldwide definition proposed by the IDF. We therefore assessed the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome according to IDF criteria, using ethnicityand sex-specific cutoff values for central obesity.