- The following criteria are modified from the National Cholesterol Education Program's Adult Treatment Panel and the World Health Organization definition of metabolic syndrome. Waist circumference is not an adequate predictor of visceral adiposity in children. Also, no normative values have been developed nor is this measurement consistent between racial and ethnic groups. Body mass index (BMI), however, correlates strongly with both visceral lipid depot and blood pressure. The definition of hypertension is greater than the 95th percentile for sex and age as designated in the 1996 Task Force Report on High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents.