A quarter of the world’s population suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. MetS is particularly common among people of low socioeconomic status (SES). When we examined the relative roles of early-life SES and current SES in explaining MetS risk, we found that low early-life SES contributed to an 83% greater risk of MetS later on. This suggests that MetS health disparities originate in early childhood, and that making targeted interventions in childhood may help reduce instances of MetS among people born into poverty.
Key Facts
- A quarter of the world’s population suffer from metabolic syndrome (MetS), a cluster of conditions that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.
- Children who grow up in poverty are 83% more likely to suffer from MetS in later life.
- Early childhood may be an ideal period for targeting interventions to reduce the risk of MetS across the lifespan.
MetS[1] is a clustering of abdominal obesity, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and elevated blood pressure.[2] The syndrome is associated with a two-fold increased risk of cardiovascular events or death[3] and a five-fold increased risk of incident type 2 diabetes mellitus. With MetS prevalence rates rising globally, it is increasingly important to understand its distribution and identify intervention targets.[4]
[For more on this policy brief by Camelia Hostinar, UC Davis; Kharah M. Ross, UC Los Angeles; and Edith Chen and Gregory E. Miller, Northwestern University, go to https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/po...oor-health-adulthood]
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