Men Develop Diabetes With Less Body Fat Than Women: Study

Researchers say differences in fat distribution may be to blame

URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_117323.html
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By Robert Preidt

Friday, October 7, 2011 HealthDay Logo

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FRIDAY, Oct. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Men develop type 2 diabetes at a lower body-mass index (BMI) than women, and this finding helps explain why men have higher rates of diabetes in many parts of the world, researchers report.

They analyzed data from 51,920 men and 43,137 women in Scotland with diabetes and found that average BMI at diabetes diagnosis was 31.83 in men and 33.69 in women. This difference was most noticeable at younger ages, the researchers said.

The study was published online Sept. 30 in the journal Diabetologia.

The findings confirm the hypothesis that men have to gain less weight to develop diabetes, according to study leader Professor Naveed Sattar, of the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Fat distribution may explain why men develop diabetes with less weight gain than women. Men tend to have more fat in their abdominal regions and in their liver than women, while women have greater amounts of "safe" subcutaneous (beneath the skin) fat than men.

"It is worrying that men develop type 2 diabetes at a higher rate than their female counterparts. Research like this will help us understand reasons why and provide greater insight into what we can do to improve prevention of type 2 diabetes," Dr. Victoria King, head of research at Diabetes UK, said in a university news release.

SOURCE: University of Glasgow, news release, Oct. 2, 2011

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