Visceral adiposity index is a better predictor to discriminate metabolic syndrome than other classical adiposity indices among young adults

Abstract Background Visceral adiposity index (VAI) has been identified as a cardiometabolic risk marker in children and adolescents which reflects abdominal fat distribution. The aim of the present study was to evaluated the predictive capacity of VAI, a body shape index (ABSI), atherogenic index of plasma (AIP), and triglycerides and glucose index (TyG index) compared with classical anthropometric measurements to discriminate metabolic syndrome (MetS). Methods This retrospective study included 1372 individuals. Anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical measurements were used to screen the prevalence of MetS components and to calculate VAI, ABSI, TyG index, and AIP. Results The discriminatory capacity among the variables was assessed by the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). VAI was the variable with the highest AUC with 0.932 CI 95% (0.917–0.948), followed by AIP with 0.914 CI 95% (0.897–0.931), and TyG index with 0.889 CI 95% (0.871–0.908). Conclusion VAI is a promising tool to identify MetS in the late adolescence setting. Among the novel adiposity indexes VAI, AIP, TyG index are able to determine MetS presence, while ABSI is not capable.