Relative fat mass (RFM) has the potential to be utilized in the general practice environment to predict the risk of developing future diabetes because it is highly related with new-onset T2D, says an article published in European Journal of Internal Medicine.
A brand-new anthropometric equation for estimating whole-body fat percentage (based on height and waist measurements) is called relative fat mass. In order to compare RFM's performance to body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), Navin Suthahar and colleagues conducted this study to explore connections of RFM with incidence type-2 diabetes (T2D).

Three Dutch community-based cohorts without diabetes at baseline provided data for this prospective longitudinal investigation. Initially, using Cox regression models, researchers looked at data from the PREVEND cohort (median age and follow-up duration: 48.0 and 12.5 years, respectively). Lifelines and Rotterdam cohorts, with median ages and follow-up times of 45.5 and 3.8 years and 68.0 and 13.9 years, respectively, were used for validation.
The key findings of this study were:
522 (6.6%) of the 7961 PREVEND participants experienced T2D.
All adiposity indicators were substantially linked with incidence T2D in a multivariable model (Pall 0.001).
Whereas a 1 SD rise in BMI, WC, or WHR was linked to an increased risk of T2D of 68%, 77%, or 61%, respectively [Hazard ratio (HR)BMI: 1.68, HRWC: 1.77, and HR-WHR: 1.61], a similar increase in RFM was linked to an increased risk of 119%.
All age groups showed an association between RFM and incident T2D, with the youngest age group (40 years) showing the biggest effect size.
The Lifelines (n = 93,870) and Rotterdam (n = 5279) cohorts' findings were mostly comparable.
In conclusion, RFM exhibits the potential to be regularly utilized in the general practice context to determine future risk of diabetes and accurately predicts new-onset T2D in the Dutch population. Our data also show that community-wide T2D risk would be significantly decreased if obesity was well controlled, especially in young people.
Reference:
Suthahar, N., Wang, K., Zwartkruis, V. W., Bakker, S. J. L., Inzucchi, S. E., Meems, L. M. G., Eijgenraam, T. R., Ahmadizar, F., Sijbrands, E. G., Gansevoort, R. T., Kieneker, L. M., van Veldhuisen, D. J., Kavousi, M., & de Boer, R. A. (2023). Associations of relative fat mass, a new index of adiposity, with type-2 diabetes in the general population. In European Journal of Internal Medicine (Vol. 109, pp. 73–78). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2022.12.024