Excessive carbohydrate consumption and body mass index: the risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus in patients with Prader-Willi syndrome in Tamil Nadu population

Abstract

BackgroundPrader-Willi syndrome (PWS) is commonly associated with severe obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and is caused by excessive eating. Only very few studies have reported the relationship between excessive eating, weight gain, and T2DM associated with PWS. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between high carbohydrate intake, body mass index (BMI), and the associated risk factor of T2DM development in people with PWS. We collected data from 23 PWS patients along with obesity control (OC) in Tamil Nadu, India. All PWS patients had T2DM whereas only 7 of 23 OC subjects had T2DM. The physical and biochemical parameters were compared in both subjects. We estimated daily intake in grams of food and calories for each item consumed by both PWS and OC subjects (with and without T2DM). Additionally, we compared BMI values and macronutrients, to investigate the occurrence of T2DM in PWS.ResultsAll statistical analyses were done using mean ± SD. PWS subjects showed BMI values that were extremely significant in both adolescent and adult (p value < 0.0001) compared to OC subjects. All biochemical parameters were extremely significant in the adolescent than in the adult group of PWS compared to OC subjects. The current study showed that PWS subjects consume significantly more carbohydrates from total white rice intake and they have exceeding BMI values when compared to OC subjects with and without T2DM (p value 0.05).ConclusionThis is the first report on excessive carbohydrate consumption of > 300 g by PWS patients in Tamil Nadu with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 as a risk factor for T2DM. We highly recommend the optimal daily intake of white rice to prevent the development of T2DM in PWS.