Abstract
Aims/hypothesisThis study aimed to evaluate associations of height as well as components of height (sitting height and leg length) with risk of type 2 diabetes and to explore to what extent associations are explainable by liver fat and cardiometabolic risk markers.MethodsA case-cohort study within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study comprising 26,437 participants who provided blood samples was designed. We randomly selected a subcohort of 2500 individuals (2029 diabetes-free at baseline and with anamnestic, anthropometrical and metabolic data for analysis). Of the 820 incident diabetes cases identified in the full cohort during 7 years of follow-up, 698 remained for analyses after similar exclusions.ResultsAfter adjustment for age, potential lifestyle confounders, education and waist circumference, greater height was related to lower diabetes risk (HR per 10 cm, men 0.59 [95% CI 0.47, 0.75] and women 0.67 [0.51, 0.88], respectively). Leg length was related to lower risk among men and women, but only among men if adjusted for total height. Adjustment for liver fat and triacylglycerols, adiponectin and C-reactive protein substantially attenuated associations between height and diabetes risk, particularly among women.Conclusions/interpretationWe observed inverse associations between height and risk of type 2 diabetes, which was largely related to leg length among men. The inverse associations may be partly driven by lower liver fat content and a more favourable cardiometabolic profile.
Highlights
Short stature has been linked to higher risk of diabetes in prospective cohort studies, including the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)Potsdam study [1, 2]
The objective of this study was to evaluate associations of height as well as components of height with risk of type 2 diabetes and to explore to what extent these associations are mediated by blood lipids, BP, C-reactive protein (CRP) and other markers related to liver metabolism and ectopic fat accumulation
We found that in men and women the risk of future type 2 diabetes was lower by more than 30% for each 10 cm difference in height when accounting for common diabetes risk factors
Summary
Short stature has been linked to higher risk of diabetes in prospective cohort studies, including the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)Potsdam study [1, 2]. Short stature is related to higher cardiovascular risk [4] and measurement of height can be used for the Diabetologia (2019) 62:2211–2221 prediction of diabetes alongside other risk factors [5, 6]. Height can be subdivided into the components sitting height and leg length. The latter has been linked with environmental and nutritional exposures during prepubertal growth periods [7]. Only a few prospective studies have investigated the different components of height with regard to diabetes risk [8, 9]
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