Low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol is the most prevalent metabolic abnormality for Australian Aboriginal men and women even when lean

Abstract

Background

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship of the prevalence and risk of the metabolic syndrome to body mass index (BMI) in Australian Aboriginal people.

Design

It was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data obtained from population-based screenings in Aboriginal communities in central and northern Australia (913 participants recruited between 1993 and 1997).

Results

Forty-one percent of men and 48% of women conformed to the National Cholesterol Education Program definition for the metabolic syndrome (χ² = 3.72, P = 0.054). The prevalence of low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was high in all BMI categories (89 and 95% in men and women, respectively). The prevalence of all other metabolic abnormalities increased linearly with BMI.

Conclusion

The metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in Aboriginal communities and is strongly associated with BMI. Low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol was the predominant component of the metabolic syndrome across sex groups and BMI strata.

Keywords

Australian Aboriginal people low high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol metabolic syndrome

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics. The health and welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; 2003.

O'Dea

Rowley

KG.

Macrovascular disease risk factors and insulin resistance in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. J Diab Compl 2002; 16:9–16.

Daniel

Rowley

McDermott

Mylvaganam

O'Dea

Diabetes incidence in an Australian Aboriginal population. An 8-year follow-up study. Diabetes Care 1999; 22: 1993–1998.

Rowley

Iser

Best

O'Dea

Leonard

McDermott

Albuminuria in Australian Aboriginal people: prevalence and associations with components of the metabolic syndrome. Diabetologia 2000; 43: 1397–1403.

5 Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults. Executive summary of the third report of The National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III). JAMA 2001; 285:2486–2497.

McLennan

Population distribution, indigenous Australians. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics; 1996.

7 Dunstan

Zimmet

Welborn

Sicree

Armstrong

Atkins

. Diabesity and associated disorders in Australia. Melbourne: International Diabetes Institute; 2000.

8 Rowley

Walker

Cohen

Jenkins

O'Neal

. Inflammation and vascular endothelial activation in an Aboriginal population: relationships to coronary disease risk factors and nutritional markers. Med J Aust 2003; 178:495–500.

Björntorp

Do stress reactions cause abdominal obesity and comorbidities? Obes Rev 2001; 2:73–76.

10.

Björntorp

Neuroendocrine perturbations as a cause of insulin resistance. Diabetes Metab Res Rev 1999; 15:427–441.