Background: Metabolic syndrome or X syndrome is a combination of disorders such as: central obesity, hypertension, increased blood glucose and impaired blood lipids. Metabolic syndrome increases risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dislipidemia and some cancers. This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2008.

Materials & Methods: This study is a cross-sectional survey carried out on 221 students in an age range of 19-27 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined having at least three of the Third Report of the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) criteria as the following: triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL high blood pressure (systolic blood pressure≥130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 85 mmHg) fasting glucose≥110 mg/dL waist circumference≥102 cm in men and ≥ 88 cm in women and HDL<40 mg/dL in men and<50 in female.

Results: Approximatry 30.8% of subjects had one component of metabolic syndrome. The most prevalent metabolic syndrome components had high blood pressure (16.7%) and low HDL (26.2%).

Conclusion: The results show that the important metabolic syndrome risk factors among students are high diastolic blood pressure and low HDL.