Comparison of anthropometric characteristics in predicting the incidence of type 2 diabetes in the EPIC-Potsdam study.

Obesity is a well-established risk factor for type 2 diabetes (1–3). However, while several studies (4–10) suggest that anthropometric measurements that describe central fat distribution are superior in predicting type 2 diabetes compared with measurements of general adiposity, this issue remains controversial (11–14). The aim of this study was to compare different anthropometric measurements and derived estimates of body composition, in particular BMI, waist-to-height ratio, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), metric index, and percentage body fat, in their ability to predict risk of type 2 diabetes in a large prospective cohort study of men and women.