Obesity Rate Increasing in U.S. Adults With Type 1 Diabetes

MONDAY, Jan. 31, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The prevalence of obesity is increasing among individuals with type 1 diabetes (T1D), and it is associated with an elevated risk for chronic kidney disease, according to a study published online Jan. 26 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Amelia S. Wallace, from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues examined the link between obesity and chronic kidney disease among individuals with T1D compared to those with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the Geisinger Health System from 2004 to 2018. Trends were assessed in obesity (body mass index, ≥30 kg/m²), low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; ≤60 mL/min/1.73 m²), and albuminuria (urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, ≥30 mg/g).

The researchers observed an increase in obesity in T1D from 2004 to 2018 (32.6 to 36.8 percent), while obesity was stable in T2D, at about 60 percent. In all years, the crude prevalence of low eGFR was higher in T2D than T1D (e.g., in 2018: 30.6 versus 16.1 percent); after adjustment for age differences, a higher prevalence was seen in T1D than T2D in all years (e.g., in 2018: 16.2 versus 9.3 percent). In T1D and T2D, obesity was associated with increased odds of low eGFR (adjusted odds ratios, 1.52 and 1.29, respectively).

"Kidney disease is often considered more common in people with type 2 diabetes, but our data shows adults with type 1 diabetes actually had a higher risk of kidney disease than those with type 2," a coauthor said in a statement.

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