Association between upper leg length and metabolic syndrome among US elderly participants—results from the NHANES (2009–2010)

Objective To examine the relationship between upper leg length (ULL) and metabolic syndrome (MetS) in older adults. Methods Data was collected from National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES, 2009–2010). 786 individuals (385 males and 401 females) who were 60 years of age or older were included in this analysis. MetS was defined as having at least three of following conditions, i.e., central obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and hypertension based on National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines. ULL was grouped into gender-specific tertiles. Results 328 (41.7%) of participants were categorized as having MetS (38.7% in men and 49.1% in women, P = 0.002). Compared to individuals in the 1st tertile (T1) of ULL, those in the 3rd tertile (T3) had lower levels of triglycerides (120.8 vs. 153.1 mg/dL, P = 0.045), waist circumference (100.7 vs. 104.2 cm, P = 0.049), and systolic blood pressure (126.7 vs. 131.4 mmHg, P = 0.005), but higher levels of high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol (58.1 vs. 52.4 mg/dL, P = 0.024). The odds ratios (95% CI) of MetS from multivariate logistic regression were 0.57 (0.32–1.03) for individuals in the T2 of ULL and 0.39 (0.24–0.64) for individuals in the T3 of ULL, respectively (P-value for the trend 0.022). Conclusions ULL was negatively associated with MetS in older adults. Further research is needed to identify potential mechanisms.