in a district in Lima. Materials and Methods. An observational, cross-sectional study was carried out with 20 to 59-year-old users of community kitchens selected from a two-stage cluster sampling. The metabolic syndrome was measured according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF). Risk factors proposed by the WHO and the IDF were assessed, as well as the diet needs and intake average and its components at lunch. Results. The global prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 40.1%: women exhibited a 30.4% prevalence and men 24%. Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome components were, abdominal obesity 51.6%, low C-HDL 42.2%, hypertriglyceridemia 35.3%, obesity 43.3%, overweight 35.8%, arterial hypertension 21.0%, and hyperglycemia 14.1%. A sedentary lifestyle is present in 86.1% of participants. Conclusions. Excess weight, abdominal obesity, and high cholesterol were the most prevalent risk factors in women. The metabolic syndrome component with the highest prevalence in community kitchen users in a district of Lima is abdominal obesity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]