| Title: | Ethnic-Specific Obesity Cutoffs for Diabetes Risk: Cross-sectional Study of 490,288 UK Biobank Participants |
| Journal: | Diabetes Care |
| Published: | 7 Aug 2014 |
| Pubmed: | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24974975/ |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.2337/dc13-2966 |
| URL: | http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/93767/1/93767.pdf |
Publication 7553
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Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the relationship between adiposity and prevalent diabetes across ethnic groups in the UK Biobank cohort and to derive ethnic-specific obesity cutoffs that equate to those developed in white populations in terms of diabetes prevalence.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: UK Biobank recruited 502,682 U.K. residents aged 40-69 years. We used baseline data on the 490,288 participants from the four largest ethnic subgroups: 471,174 (96.1%) white, 9,631 (2.0%) South Asian, 7,949 (1.6%) black, and 1,534 (0.3%) Chinese. Regression models were developed for the association between anthropometric measures (BMI, waist circumference, percentage body fat, and waist-to-hip ratio) and prevalent diabetes, stratified by sex and adjusted for age, physical activity, socioeconomic status, and heart disease.
RESULTS: Nonwhite participants were two- to fourfold more likely to have diabetes. For the equivalent prevalence of diabetes at 30 kg/m(2) in white participants, BMI equated to the following: South Asians, 22.0 kg/m(2); black, 26.0 kg/m(2); Chinese women, 24.0 kg/m(2); and Chinese men, 26.0 kg/m(2). Among women, a waist circumference of 88 cm in the white subgroup equated to the following: South Asians, 70 cm; black, 79 cm; and Chinese, 74 cm. Among men, a waist circumference of 102 cm equated to 79, 88, and 88 cm for South Asian, black, and Chinese participants, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Obesity should be defined at lower thresholds in nonwhite populations to ensure that interventions are targeted equitably based on equivalent diabetes prevalence. Furthermore, within the Asian population, a substantially lower obesity threshold should be applied to South Asian compared with Chinese groups.
5 Authors
- Uduakobong E. Ntuk
- Jason M.R. Gill
- Daniel F. Mackay
- Naveed Sattar
- Jill P. Pell
Enabling scientific discoveries that improve human health