Introduction: Previous studies have shown that workers from companies benefiting from the Workers' Food Program (WFP), the only Public Policy for Food and Nutrition Security aimed at this public, had a higher frequency of overweight, obesity and greater waist circumference (WC) than workers not covered by the WFP. As WC is an important marker of cardiovascular risk, it was hypothesized that workers covered by the WFP had a higher prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS).

Objective: To compare the prevalence of MetS among workers in manufacturing industries linked and not linked to the WFP.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study with a probability sample based on multistage sampling (companies within each sector and workers within each company) stratified by industry sector (food and beverage, textile, and non-metallic minerals) and company size (small, medium and large). Demographic, anthropometric, blood pressure and blood samples were collected from each worker to determine blood glucose and lipid fractions. Data were analyzed separately for each sex with mixed effects logistic regression with the presence of SMet and each individual component as dependent variables, and group (WFP and non-WFP), company size and worker variables as fixed factors, and sector and company as random factors, including sampling weights and an independent correlation structure.

Results: 674 workers from 33 companies were interviewed, being 332 (49.3%) from the WFP group (16 companies) and 342 (50.7%) from the non-WFP group (17 companies). Among the socioeconomic and bio-demographic characteristics, male workers in the WFP group had a higher education level (74.1% with > fundamental grade versus 52.6% in the non-WFP group, p = 0.04) and professional qualification (32.7% with in-house formation versus 14.3%, respectively, p = 0.05), while women had higher education (73.5% versus 47.9% in the non-WFP group, p = 0.05) and income (44.3% earning above minimum wage versus 31, 1% in the non-WFP group, p = 0.01). In male workers, the prevalence of MetS was significantly higher in the PAT group (33.6% versus 26% in the non-PAT group, p = 0.034). The components of SMet that differed between the groups were increased WC (> 80 cm in women and> 94 cm in men), with prevalences of 52.6% and 31.5% in the WFP and non-WFP groups, respectively (p = 0.02), and hyperglycemia (> 100 mg/dL), with prevalences of 7.1% and 7.8%, respectively, in the WFP group in the non-WFP group (p = 0.02). In female workers, there was no evidence of differences between the WFP and non-WFP groups in the prevalence of MetS or its components.

Conclusion: Our results show that MetS was more prevalent among WFP group workers, who also had higher waist circumference. The non-WFP group had a higher prevalence of high fasting glucose levels. These results complement previous studies reporting increased rates of overweight in workers from companies benefiting from the WFP.