Wife's BMI Weighs on Husband's Diabetes Risk

While one's own body mass index is a key determinant of type 2 diabetes risk, men also accrue some additional risk when their wives gain BMI points, an observational study suggested. For husbands, the diabetes incidence during an average 11.5 years of follow-up rose linearly with spousal BMI. The incidence rate ratio was 1.33 (95% CI 1.23-1.45) for a 5-unit higher spousal BMI, such as from 25 to 30. After accounting for the husband's own BMI, the association remained significant (IRR 1.21, 95% CI 1.11-1.33), Adam Hulman, PhD, of Denmark's Aarhus University, reported here at the European Society for the Study of Diabetes meeting. For women, spousal BMI carried no significant diabetes risk whether adjusted only for factors like age, socioeconomic status, and ethnicity or additionally for the woman's own obesity level. https://www.medpagetoday.com/meetingcoverage/easd/67816