Key result
Metabolic syndrome components climb in South Korea, led by a ~21% rise in abdominal obesity.
Why the study?
The study aimed to describe 10-year trends and age- and sex-specific patterns in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome components in the Republic of Korea using national health screening data.
What are the 10-year trends and age- and sex-specific patterns in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome components in the Republic of Korea between 2014 and 2023?
Cross-Sectional
What are the 10-year trends and age- and sex-specific patterns in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome components in the Republic of Korea between 2014 and 2023?
The increasing trends in abdominal obesity, hyperglycemia, and hypertension from 2014 to 2023 in South Korea highlight the need for targeted, early cardiometabolic prevention strategies.
Objectives: This study described 10-year trends in the prevalence of 5 metabolic syndrome (MetS) components and examined age- and sex-specific patterns in the Republic of Korea using aggregated national health screening statistics from 2014 to 2023. Methods: This repeated cross-sectional study used publicly available aggregated data from the National Health Screening Statistical Yearbook of the National Health Insurance Service. Annual prevalence estimates were summarized overall and by age group and sex. Linear regression descriptively summarized temporal trends. Because of a marked reduction in examinees in 2018 and a discontinuity around the 2018-2019 transition, sensitivity analyses excluding 2018 were performed. Results: From 2014 to 2023, the prevalence of abdominal obesity increased from 21.0% to 25.5%, hyperglycemia from 34.7% to 40.1%, and hypertension from 42.3% to 45.1%. Hypertriglyceridemia and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol appeared to decrease over the same period but showed a marked discontinuity between 2018 and 2019. Prevalence generally increased across older age groups, particularly for hypertension and hyperglycemia. Men had a higher prevalence of 4 MetS components, whereas women had a higher prevalence of low HDL cholesterol. Conclusion: MetS components showed heterogeneous temporal, age-specific, and sex-specific patterns in Korean national health screening statistics. Increases in abdominal obesity and hyperglycemia support the need for earlier age- and sex-tailored cardiometabolic prevention, whereas apparent declines in lipid-related indicators should be interpreted cautiously due to the 2018-2019 discontinuity. Because this study used aggregated repeated cross-sectional data, individual-level longitudinal studies are needed to clarify cardiometabolic risk trends in the Republic of Korea.
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Jang et al. (2026) conducted a cross-sectional in Metabolic syndrome. Time period (2014-2023) was evaluated on Prevalence of 5 metabolic syndrome components. From 2014 to 2023, the prevalence of abdominal obesity increased from 21.0% to 25.5%, hyperglycemia from 34.7% to 40.1%, and hypertension from 42.3% to 45.1% in the Republic of Korea.
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