Abdominal obesity linked to higher heart risk in diabetes
In normal-weight adults with type 2 diabetes, abdominal obesity was linked to higher combined death and cardiovascular risk, with a relative-risk measure of 1.13 versus no abdominal obesity.
Limit: Physical activity was self-reported and could be misclassified
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
This retrospective observational cohort study included 323,029 adults in South Korea with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and normal body mass index, below 23 kilograms per square meter. Researchers used insurance records and questionnaires about moderate-to-vigorous physical activity. Abdominal obesity meant a waist circumference of at least 90 centimeters in men or 80 centimeters in women.
Over a median six years, abdominal obesity was linked to higher combined risk of death from any cause, heart attack, stroke caused by blocked blood flow, or hospitalization for heart failure. The adjusted hazard ratio—a measure of relative risk over time—was 1.13 versus no abdominal obesity. Among participants with abdominal obesity, regular activity after diagnosis was linked to lower risk of this combined outcome, with an adjusted hazard ratio of 0.74 versus no regular activity.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular disease threatens health in later life. The study addressed whether waist size and physical activity could help distinguish risk among people with diabetes whose body mass index was normal.
Caveats
This observational study could not establish cause and effect, and participants reported their own activity. The findings do not establish the same associations in people without diabetes or with higher body mass index.
The paper
Korea University Anam Hospital; Sungkyunkwan University
Journal of the American Heart Association, Oct 23, 2026, Open access
