Abstract
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic abnormalities that includes central obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and disturbed glucose metabolism. The main objective was to explore the effects of nutritional interventions on participants with MetS. The quasi-experimental design was carried out on 500 Bangladeshi adults (30 to 69 years; both males and females) who provided informed consent. Modified NCEP ATP III criteria for Asians were used to diagnose the subjects. This study revealed that the overall percentages of men and women with MetS were 59.6% and 59.1%, respectively. The study suggested a 2.69 cm reduction (p < 0.05) in waist circumference in females after 4 months of in-depth nutritional counseling and a 0.24 cm reduction after 4 months of single-intervention nutritional counseling. Similarly, a 2.64 cm reduction (p > 0.05) in males after 4 months of in-depth nutritional counseling and a 1.57 cm increase after a single intervention of nutritional counseling were found to be significant (p < 0.05). A 1.08 mmol/L decrease in FBG was found after in-depth nutritional counseling for 4 months, while no significant difference was detected after a single intervention. A 9.37 mg/dl increase in HDL-C was found (p < 0.05) for females, but for males, the levels of HDL-C remained nearly the same in both intervention groups. A reduction in the MetS proportion was found in the intervention groups (p < 0.05). The loads of MetS components 3, 4, and 5 were 44-23.5%, 47.1-11.8%, and 8.8-5.9% (p > 0.05), respectively, in the in-depth intervention group, whereas in the single intervention group, these were 50.0-32.3%, 41.9-35.5%, and 9.7-22.6%, respectively. Thus, community-based in-depth nutritional counseling reduced the proportion of individuals with MetS and significantly improved several metabolic parameters in Bangladeshi adults.