Metabolic syndrome and its components are associated with thyroid volume in adolescents

Abstract Objective To explore the association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its component and thyroid volume in Chinese adolescents, and to compare the detection rate of MetS under the three different diagnostic criteria. Methods A total of 1097 school students (610 males and 487 females, ages 12–15 years) were enrolled. All the participants underwent physical examination, biochemical test, and thyroid gland ultrasonography. The thyroid volume of normal, overweight and obese group was compared. We also analyzed the association between the number of MetS components and thyroid volume. Linear and multiple linear regression were applied to explore the association between metabolic parameters and thyroid volume. Results The thyroid volume of the males in overweight (t = 3.784, P