Research

Energy balance

Long-term weight gain (≥7 kg) and significant abdominal fat accumulation (waist gain ≥14.6 cm) are strong, independent predictors of type 2 diabetes risk in men, with weight gain accounting for 56% of incident cases.

For men, maintaining a stable weight and specifically preventing abdominal fat gain (measured by waist circumference) is critical for preventing type 2 diabetes. A gain of 7kg or more, or a waist increase of 2.5cm or more over 9 years, significantly elevates risk. Focus on preventing waist expansion, not just total weight, as abdominal fat accumulation is a strong independent predictor.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Fifty-six percent of the cases of diabetes in this cohort could be attributed to weight gain greater than 7 kg, and 20 percent of the cases could be attributed to a waist gain exceeding 2.5 cm.
Pauline Koh-Banerjee et al. · American Journal of Epidemiology · 2004

Why this rating

Large prospective cohort (n=22,171), long follow-up, rigorous adjustment for confounders, though observational design limits causal certainty.

Source

Changes in Body Weight and Body Fat Distribution as Risk Factors for Clinical Diabetes in US Men

Pauline Koh-Banerjee et al. · American Journal of Epidemiology · 2004

DOI 10.1093/aje/kwh167

cohort · n=22171Cited 370×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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