Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors among vegetarians in Malaysia

• Main Authors: Appukutty, M. (Author), Chan, Y.M (Author), Chin, Y.S (Author), Ching, Y.K (Author), Gan, W.Y (Author), Ramanchadran, V. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2018
• Subjects: abdominal obesity; adult; Adult; age distribution; alcohol consumption; Article; body composition; body height; body mass; body weight; Chinese; cholesterol blood level; controlled study; Cross-Sectional Studies; cross-sectional study; diastolic blood pressure; diet; disease prevalence; ethnic difference; female; Female; glucose; glucose blood level; high density lipoprotein cholesterol; household income; human; Humans; hypertension; Indian; Kuala Lumpur [West Malaysia]; lactoovovegetarian; lactovegetarian; Life Style; lifestyle; Lifestyle behaviours; low density lipoprotein cholesterol; Malaysia; male; Male; married person; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome; metabolic syndrome X; metabolism; middle aged; Middle Aged; Overweight; physical activity; prevalence; Prevalence; religion; risk assessment; risk factor; Risk Factors; Selangor; sex difference; smoking; Spondias purpurea; statistics and numerical data; systolic blood pressure; triacylglycerol; triacylglycerol blood level; vegan; vegetarian; Vegetarian; Vegetarianism practises; Vegetarians; waist circumference; West Malaysia
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus
• ISBN: 16617827 (ISSN)
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph15092031

The prevalence and factors associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) remain unknown in Malaysian vegetarians. This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the prevalence of MetS among vegetarians in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor and its associated factors. The data on socio-demographic characteristics, vegetarianism practises, lifestyle behaviours, body weight, height, waist circumference (WC), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), and blood lipid profiles were collected from 273 vegetarians. A majority of the respondents were lacto-ovo vegetarians (44.0%), females (64.8%) and Chinese (54.9%). The prevalence of MetS was 24.2%. High BP (48.7%) and high WC (43.6%) were the most common MetS components. Females had lower WC, SBP, DBP, FBG, TG and higher HDL-c (p < 0.05) as compared to males. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that being overweight and obese (Odds Ratio (OR) = 7.74, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 4.04–14.82) was the main risk factor of MetS after being adjusted for sex and age. This study found that one in four vegetarians had MetS. An intervention programme should be developed to reduce Body Mass Index (BMI) among vegetarians, especially among those who are found to be overweight and obese. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.