Research
Hormonal
Higher trunk fat mass is independently associated with higher fasting and postload glucose levels, indicating a detrimental effect on glucose metabolism.
Focus on reducing abdominal fat, as it is the strongest predictor of high blood sugar. Use waist circumference or DXA scans to monitor trunk fat specifically, rather than just total body weight or hip size.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Greater trunk fat mass was associated with higher glucose levels after adjustment for age, trunk lean mass, leg lean mass, and leg fat mass.
Why this rating
Large sample size (n=556), rigorous DXA measurement, and adjustment for multiple confounders, though cross-sectional design limits causal inference.
Source
Trunk Fat and Leg Fat Have Independent and Opposite Associations With Fasting and Postload Glucose Levels
Marieke B. Snijder et al. · Diabetes Care · 2004
DOI 10.2337/diacare.27.2.372
cross_sectional · n=556Cited 418×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Hip circumference is a poor proxy for trunk fat and a good proxy for leg fat and lean mass, making waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) a complex metric influenced by both harmful trunk fat and protective leg tissue.Strong
- Higher leg fat mass is independently associated with lower fasting and postload glucose levels, suggesting a protective effect against disturbed glucose metabolism.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →