{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T17:59:21Z","timestamp":1790618361913,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]],"date-time":"2026-09-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790467200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["J. Clin. Med.","JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Korean studies reported adverse metabolic changes during the COVID-19 pandemic, but subsequent patterns remain unclear. This study examined metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its components across pre-pandemic, pandemic, and recovery periods among Korean adults. Methods: We analyzed 36,194 adults aged \u226520 years from the 2018\u20132024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey: 11,354 pre-pandemic (2018\u20132019), 10,200 pandemic (2020\u20132021), and 14,640 recovery (2022\u20132024). MetS was defined as \u22653 of five components. Complex-sample analyses and multivariable logistic regression were performed. Sensitivity analysis excluded reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Results: Weighted MetS prevalence was 29.1%, 30.5%, and 26.4% across the pre-pandemic, pandemic, and recovery periods, respectively. Individual MetS components showed divergent patterns. Abdominal obesity increased during the pandemic and remained elevated during recovery, whereas reduced HDL-C declined markedly during recovery. Compared with the pre-pandemic period, the fully adjusted odds of MetS were not significantly higher during the pandemic (OR, 1.077; 95% CI, 0.999\u20131.161) but were lower during recovery (OR, 0.845; 95% CI, 0.790\u20130.903). After excluding reduced HDL-C, the recovery association was attenuated (OR, 0.924; 95% CI, 0.857\u20130.997). Conclusions: MetS prevalence decreased during recovery, but individual components showed divergent trajectories, with abdominal obesity remaining elevated. Attenuation after excluding reduced HDL-C suggests that lower MetS prevalence should not be interpreted as uniform metabolic recovery.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15197512","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T16:50:54Z","timestamp":1790614254000},"page":"7512","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Changes in Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components Across the Pre-Pandemic, Pandemic, and Recovery Periods Among Korean Adults"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2487-5122","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Seong-Gil","family":"Kim","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health and Life Science, Korea National University of Transportation, Jeungpyeong-gun 27930, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0886-1713","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Do-Youn","family":"Lee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of General Education, Kookmin University, Seoul 02707, Republic of Korea"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"software","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e000960","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjsem-2020-000960","article-title":"Changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviours from before to during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown: A systematic review","volume":"7","author":"Stockwell","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMJ Open Sport Exerc. 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