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Diabetes risk present among overweight, obese metabolically healthy young adults
The risk for incident diabetes associated with overweight and obesity was not decreased among young adults with a healthy metabolic profile or the absence of diabetes risk factors, according to recent study findings published in Diabetes Care.
Gilad Twig, MD, PhD, of Sheba Medical Center in Israel, and colleagues evaluated 33,939 obese men without metabolic risk factors aged 25 years or older to determine the incidence of diabetes among them. Researchers defined metabolically healthy obesity as BMI ≥30 kg/m2 with normoglycemia, normal blood pressure, and normal levels of fasting triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol levels (n=631).
Overall, during follow-up, there were 734 new cases of diabetes diagnosed. There was a 10.6% increase in diabetes risk with each unit increase of BMI (P<.001). Metabolically healthy participants of normal weight had a lower incident rate of diabetes compared with obese participants (P<.001). When three metabolic comorbidities were recorded, the incidence rate of diabetes was still lower among normal-weight participants (3.17 cases per 1,000 person-years) compared with obese participants (19.17 cases per 1,000 person-years).
Compared with normal-weight participants, overweight (HR=1.6; 95% CI, 1.11-2.31) and obese participants (HR=2.74; 95% CI, 1.53-4.89) had a greater increased risk for diabetes.
“To conclude, we found that overweight and obesity confers an increased risk for diabetes at any BMI status, including young obese adults with no other recognizable diabetes risk factors,” the researchers wrote. “This finding emphasizes the importance of tight follow-up of overweight and obese young adults for diabetes incidence, independent of the presence of other risk factors.”
Disclosure: Two researchers report financial ties with the Pinchas Borenstein Talpiot Medical Leadership Program, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.