ABSTRACT
The complex association of impaired glucose metabolism (including
insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, or type 2 diabetes), obesity (par-
ticularly visceral adiposity), hyperlipidemia, and hypertension has been
well documented in adults. Initially termed ‘syndrome X’ by Reaven,
this clustering of factors has subsequently been known as the metabolic
Recently, the World Health Organization proposed a unifying definition
for the metabolic syndrome in adults (Table 8.1). Irrespective of the term
applied to this disorder, the health and economic burden to society is
enormous, and will continue to escalate as the prevalence of type 2 dia-
betes and the metabolic syndrome rises worldwide.
