Association of Whole Blood Copper, Magnesium and Zinc Levels with Metabolic Syndrome Components in 6–12-Year-Old Rural Chinese Children: 2010–2012 China National Nutrition and Health Survey
Abstract Background: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a major public health problem in the world and some studies indicated that it is significantly associated with the future risk of cardiovascular disease. There is also a certain prevalence of Mets in childhood and shows a trend of younger age. Previous studies on the relationship between elements and MetS were mostly seen in adults with single element analysis, and reports on children and the combined effects of multiple elements were very limited. With the data form 2010–2012 China National Nutrition and Health Survey, we aim to investigate the association between whole blood Cu, Mg and Zn in both single and combined effects and MetS components in 6–12-year-old rural Chinese children.Methods: A total of 911 children (51.2% male, 48.7% female) aged 6–12 years were enrolled. Basic characteristics, metals and MetS component parameters were collected. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the independent relationship between metals and MetS components.Results: Copper was positively associated with elevated waist (OR=2.00, 1.18–3.28) and negatively associated with elevated TG (OR=0.33, 0.16-0.65). When high Cu combined with Zn, the association with elevated waist and elevated TG both disappeared. In the combination of Cu and Mg, high Cu with high Mg had a positive association with elevated waist (OR=2.03, 1.26-3.27) and high Cu with low Mg had a negative asscoiation with elevated TG (OR=0.40, 0.16-0.95). Conclusions: Our study suggested that both the single and combined effects of Cu, Mg and Zn were associated with MetS components, especially in elevated waist and TG. And the comprehensive analysis of multiple elements was different from the results of single element analysis, which provide new avenues for the early screening of MetS. Additional research is needed to confirm these findings in other populations.