Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. The harmonized 2009 criteria define it as having three or more of the following five risk factors: a large waistline, high blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar, high triglycerides, or low HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

BMI is a general measure of mass, but waist circumference specifically estimates visceral fat — the dangerous, active fat stored deep in your abdomen around your organs. Visceral fat produces inflammatory chemicals and directly causes insulin resistance, making it a much stronger predictor of cardiovascular disease than overall body weight.

Yes, absolutely. Metabolic syndrome is highly responsive to lifestyle interventions. Losing just 5% to 10% of your body weight, adopting a Mediterranean or DASH-style diet, and engaging in 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise per week can dramatically improve your blood pressure, lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity, often reversing the diagnosis entirely.

Yes. While the blood pressure, fasting glucose, and triglyceride thresholds are identical, the waist circumference and HDL cholesterol thresholds differ. For men, a waist ≥ 40 inches (102 cm) and HDL < 40 mg/dL are the risk thresholds. For women, the thresholds are a waist ≥ 35 inches (88 cm) and HDL < 50 mg/dL.