Introduction: An important global health challenge is metabolic syndrome with associated diseases. A priority for addressing this diseases is identification of simple and cost-effective methods for assessment of healthy individuals with early metabolic modifications leading to metabolic syndrome that would enable a timely introduction of preventive lifestyle modifications. Purpose: To assess whether individuals with an increased likelihood of metabolic syndrome formation could be identified in the healthy population, before meeting the three criteria on which the metabolic syndrome (MeS) diagnosis is established. Methods: Young healthy adults, that manifested at least one fulfilled criterion for the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, were assigned to a group with a higher metabolic syndrome burden (B-MeS). Results: A sub-group of young healthy adults with a higher B-MeS was identified, based on the analyses of anthropometric and biochemical measurements and a follow-up questionnaire. This sub-group may also have an increased risk for developing MeS. Discussion and conclusion: Measurements and analyses used in this study can be scaled-up to perform periodic check-ups of a healthy population. Lifestyle factors have a big influence on development or improvement of MeS. Therefore, a timely diagnosis for B-MeS would enable an early intervention for lifestyle modifications in a still healthy population, saving costs and reducing disability adjusted life years.
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