Prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components is a growing issue, including pediatric populations. However, because of many definitions used, it is difficult to assess the true fre-quency of these problems.
The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of MetS and its components as well as the frequency of problems with inadequate nutritional status among adolescents.
One hundred ninety-six teenagers aged 15–18 years, living in Krakow and its vicinity were examined including measurement of blood pressure, anthropometric parameters and blood levels of cholesterol and glucose.
The prevalence of MetS was low and varied from 0.5% to 2.0% depending on the definition. Based on Cook’s definition of MetS, the most common components were hypertension (12.8%) and hypertriglycer-idemia (12.8%). Improper body weight (based on BMI) was found in 23.5% of adolescents, including 5.1% underweight, and 18.4% overweight or obese. According to the body fat percentage (BF%), 45.8% of the boys were underfat and 6.3% had too much body fat, while only 4% of the girls were below the BF% reference values and 15% above. All girls and 86.5% of boys had too low total body water. In conclusion, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in population of Krakow adolescents was relatively low, but more than 12% of the adolescents had a hypertension or hypertriglyceridemia. Based on BMI most of adolescents were found to have adequate body weight, but examination of fat content in the body high prevalence of underfat was observed, especially among boys.

Background: Unhealthy diet and cooking method used may infl uence the risk of breast cancer (BC), but there is only limited evidence with regard to benign breast disease (BBD). The aim of this study was to assess a relationship between cooking technique, especially fried to boiled meals ratio in the diet, and the risk of BC and BBD in a group of Polish women. Material and methods: A case-control study involving 34 BC cases, 81 BBD cases and 122 healthy controls was conducted between July 2007 and November 2011. All the women were asked about their nutritional habits, especially the way of preparing meat and fi sh dishes. Th en the ratio of fried to boiled meals was calculated. Results: High fried to boiled ratio was associated with increasing risk of BBD, but not BC. Women consuming fried dishes more oft en than boiled dishes had elevated risk of BBD: OR = 3.04 and OR = 3.65 for the second and the third tertile, respectively. Adjustment for the other confounders only slightly altered this relationship. Conclusion: Women who preferred frying as a cooking technique had increased risk of benign breast disease, but not breast cancer. Th ere is a need of more precise investigation to confi rm this association.