Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: The number of people with type 2 diabetes is increasing worldwide. Currently, 415 million adults have diabetes worldwide and It has been projected that this will increase to 642 million people by 2040. Several important risk factors have been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes, the most important of which is excess body weight.

This study set out to determine the blood glucose levels of people in a semi urban community and relate it with the markers for obesity.

Methodology: This was a cross sectional study of subjects living in Owo, a semi urban community in South western Nigeria. Weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference, blood pressure and random blood sugar measurements were done using standard methods. Data was analyzed with SPSS version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were done. Associations were explored using Pearson correlation at 5% level of significance.

Results: A total of 106 subjects were screened. Of these, 84 (79.2%) were not known to have diabetes previously. There were 26 (31%) males and 58 (69%) females giving a male to female ratio of approximately 1:2. The mean age of subjects was 50.6 + 15.4 years. Only one (1.2%) of the subjects had RBS >11.1 mmol/L. The mean BMI of subjects was 24.7±5.3 kg/m2. Seven (8.3%) of the subjects were underweight while normal weight and overweight/obesity were found in 40 (47.6%) and 37 (44.1%) of the subjects respectively. The mean waist circumference in male and female subjects were 77.1±9.5 cm and 84.0±12.6 cm respectively. Their mean SBP was 135.1±22.3 mmHg while DBP was 85.4±13.7 mmHg.

There was a positive correlation between random blood glucose and waist circumference (r=0.200, P=0.069). A positive correlation was also found between the body mass index and waist hip ratio (r=0.202, P=0.065).

Conclusion: The proportion of people in the general population who are overweight to obese is high. These are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Public health enlightenment on this should be intensified.