New Delhi, Jul 14 (PTI) People with both excess body fat and poor muscle health could be more than three-and-a-half times likely to develop diabetes, compared to those with a healthy body composition, according to a new study.
People with sarcopenic obesity — the coexistence of excess body fat (obesity) and a loss of skeletal muscle mass and function (sarcopenia) — were 19 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than people with obesity alone and 91 per cent more likely to develop the condition than those with sarcopenia alone, findings published in the journal Diabetes Care show.
Lead author and PhD candidate Zhongyang Guan from Australia’s Curtin University said the findings challenged the common perception diabetes risk is primarily driven by body weight.
“Most people know carrying excess weight can increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, but our findings show muscle health is also an important piece of the puzzle,” Guan said.
The study looked at 4,79,607 diabetes-free UK Biobank participants. Over a follow-up period of more than 14 years, nearly 32,950 participants developed diabetes.
The researchers found nearly 15 per cent of those with sarcopenic obesity developed type 2 diabetes within 10 years, compared with around 11 per cent of people with obesity alone and just three per cent of people without sarcopenia or obesity.
The link was particularly strong among women and adults under the age of 60.
“SO (sarcopenic obesity) was associated with higher T2D (type 2 diabetes) risk than obesity or sarcopenia alone, supporting integrated assessment of muscle health and adiposity in T2D risk stratification,” the authors wrote.
Author and project senior lead Mario Siervo, professor at Curtin University’s faculty of health sciences, said the results supported a broader approach to diabetes prevention.
“Healthcare professionals routinely monitor body weight and obesity, but our findings suggest assessing muscle health could help identify people at high risk earlier,” Siervo said.
“As populations age and rates of obesity continue to rise, preserving muscle health through regular physical activity and healthy lifestyle habits could play an important role in reducing the burden of type 2 diabetes,” Siervo said.