Written By: Upneet Pansare | Updated : November 14, 2018 3:06 PM IST
Image credits by: An increase in adipose tissue is linked to increased risk for Type-2 diabetes ©Shutterstock
There is a strong link between obesity and diabetes. Obesity has been linked to many medical, psychological, and social conditions, including type 2 diabetes. The number of people with type 2 diabetes is expected to increase to 360 million by 2030. Various experts have also pointed out a link between belly fat or higher waist circumference and diabetes. A study has found that people who have belly fat or are genetically inclined to storing belly fat may be at an increased risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and coronary heart disease. One of the authors of the study, Sekar Kathiresan, Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, says that genetic predisposition to abdominal adiposity was associated with the risk for Type 2 diabetes. Your genetic disposition to belly fat specifically leads to an increase in blood lipids, blood glucose and systolic blood pressure.
Another study observed that insulin sensitivity differs completely in lean individuals because of differences in body fat distribution. Individuals whose fat distribution is more peripheral have more insulin sensitivity than do individuals whose fat distribution is more central (ie, in the abdomen and chest area). One of the factors insulin sensitivity is determined by is body fat distribution. The study notes that 'abdominal fat does not respond easily to the antilipolytic action of insulin, which makes intra-abdominal fat more important in causing insulin resistance, and thus diabetes.
Several studies thus confirm that clinicians can actually use the simple measure of abdominal obesity in everyday practice to help identify patients at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Abdominal fat increases the risk of diabetes and reduction in waist circumference is associated with an improvement in the circulating levels of adipose tissue secreted factors. Thus, it has been found that reducing waist circumference may lead to a lower risk of progression to diabetes.
With reference from
Al-Goblan AS, Al-Alfi MA, Khan MZ. Mechanism linking diabetes mellitus and obesity. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. 2014;7:587-91. Published 2014 Dec 4. doi:10.2147/DMSO.S67400
Freemantle N, Holmes J, Hockey A, Kumar S. How strong is the association between abdominal obesity and the incidence of type 2 diabetes?. Int J Clin Pract. 2008;62(9):1391-6.
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