Research

Hormonal

Long-term weight gain (5 kg or more) over a 10-year period significantly increases the incidence of diabetes mellitus in US adults, with risk increasing proportionally to the magnitude of weight gain.

Maintaining a stable weight is a powerful tool for diabetes prevention. If you are currently gaining weight, even modestly (5 kg or 11 lbs), your risk of developing diabetes increases significantly. The more you gain, the higher the risk. Focus on preventing weight gain rather than waiting for obesity to develop.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Among the entire cohort, weight gain was associated with increased risk for diabetes... The hazard ratios were 2.11... for participants who gained 5-<8 kg... 2.57... for participants who gained 11-<20 kg, and 3.85... for participants who gained 20 kg or more compared with participants whose weights remained relatively stable.
E. S. Ford et al. · American Journal of Epidemiology · 1997

Why this rating

Large national cohort (n=8,545), long follow-up (10+ years), but diabetes diagnosis relied on self-report and records rather than direct glucose testing.

Source

Weight Change and Diabetes Incidence: Findings from a National Cohort of US Adults

E. S. Ford et al. · American Journal of Epidemiology · 1997

DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a009256

cohort · n=8545Cited 625×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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