Metabolic Syndrome - Chapter 9: Understanding the complexities of metabolic syndrome in First Nations Australians

First Nations Australians experience health disparity in comparison to non-Indigenous Australians. This inequality in health outcomes is driven predominantly by an increase in metabolic and cardiovascular disease. Metabolic syndrome affects up to 50% of First Nations Australians and has significant implications for the risk of cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and chronic kidney disease. The striking differences in youth-onset T2DM and rates of T2DM in pregnancy between First Nations Australians and non-Indigenous Australians are particularly concerning and represent key time points for intervention. Management of metabolic syndrome and its complications in First Nations Australians requires a multidisciplinary approach and involvement of Aboiginal healthcare practitioners is essential.