What Increases Your Risk?

Most people with metabolic syndrome are overweight and tend not lead very active lives. It is also more common as we age and among:

• Women around menopause
• People who eat too many unhealthy simple carbohydrates—such as white bread, rice and pasta, white crackers as well as sweets (cookies, candy, cakes)
• Smokers
• Those with a family history of diabetes or metabolic syndrome

Certain ethnic groups (Mexican Americans in the U.S.) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome. It’s also fairly common for people with metabolic syndrome to have other conditions, including diabetes and insulin resistance, which happens when your body is unable to use insulin properly to remove glucose from your blood.