A thick waist figures big in onset of diabetes

Although Americans and Brits have similar rates of many diseases, middle-aged and older American men and women have almost twice the rate of diabetes. Americans’ large waists appear to explain much of this difference, according to a new study.

Researchers at Rand Corp. along with British scientists analyzed various risk factors for diabetes and compared these characteristics with diabetes rates in American and England. Despite a comparable standard of living, the diabetes rate among American men is 16% compared with 11% for British men. U.S. women have a rate of 14% compared with 7% for British women.

The conventional factors related to diabetes risk -- age, smoking, socioeconomic status and body mass index -- were similar among the Americans and Brits. But the one factor that differed was waist circumference, researchers reported. American men’s waists were, on average, more than 1 inch larger than those of their British peers while U.S. women’s waists were almost 2 inches larger.

“Americans carry more fat around their middle sections than the English, and that was the single factor that explained most of the higher rate of diabetes seen in the United States, especially among American women,” James P. Smith, corporate chair of economics at Rand, said in a news release. “Waist size is the missing new risk factor we should be studying.”

Americans may have bigger bellies than the English because of differences in physical activity, diet or exposure to stress. Whatever the cause, many studies have shown that belly fat is more dynamic in producing chemical changes that lead to diabetes.

The study was published online Thursday in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

-- Shari Roan / Los Angeles Times

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