Indonesia has a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MS) (13.3%) of the total population and has become a significant concern in this region. Importantly, the same daily lifestyle was found in the Islamic boarding school with a huge population of teenagers. This study aimed to identify the basic profile of metabolic syndrome in teenagers at the Islamic Boarding School in East Java Province, Indonesia. The baseline data from 200 senior high school students were addressed to measure the individual’s blood pressure, total cholesterol level, BMI, fasting blood glucose level, HDL level, LDL level, and triglyceride level in the circulation. The results of this study showed that BMI, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure were significantly different in subjects with overweight-obesity symptoms (p<0.01). Moreover, the circulating levels of HDL, triglycerides, total cholesterol, and fasting blood levels were not significantly different between groups. To sum up, this preliminary non-clinical data found that the potential of metabolic syndrome at Islamic Boarding Schools may become a major concern in preventing the gradual increase of metabolic diseases in younger ages. Hence, this Islamic institution’s nutritional policy and student physical activity program may become the primary target against metabolic syndrome.
Megawati et al. (Fri,) studied this question.