Diabetes in the Kokan region of India

BACKGROUND: BKL Walawalkar Hospital is situated near the village of Dervan in the Kokan region of the state of Maharashtra in India. A survey of 2200 surrounding villages showed 51.8% adults had body mass index (BMI) below <18.5 kg/m(2) and only 4.5% were overweight. A survey of 11521 adolescent girls from rural schools showed 64% prevalence of thinness. In the same region, government survey reported the prevalence of diabetes around 7%, and 70% prevalence of leanness. This reinforced the fact that the overall population of Kokan is lean. Hence, we decided to investigate body composition of diabetic people from our hospital clinic by carrying out a clinic-based case control study. AIM: To study body composition of diabetics in a rural clinic of Kokan. METHODS: In a case-control study, 168 type 2 diabetic patients (102 men) attending the outpatient department at a rural hospital and 144 non-diabetic controls (68 men) in the Chiplun area of the Kokan region were recruited. History of diabetes (age of onset, duration), anthropometric measurements (height, weight, waist and hip circumference) were recorded. Body composition was measured by bioimpedance using the TANITA analyzer. RESULTS: More than 45% of diabetic subjects had a 1(st) degree family history of diabetes, and more than 50% had macrovascular complications. The average BMI in diabetic subjects was 24.3 kg/m(2). According to World Health Organization standards, prevalence of underweight was 8% and that of normal BMI was around 50%. Underweight and normal diabetic subjects (men as well as women) had significantly lower body fat percentage, higher muscle mass percentage, lower visceral fat and lower basal metabolic rate when compared to their overweight counterparts. CONCLUSION: The diabetic population in Kokan has near normal body composition, and BMI has considerable limitations in assessing body composition and it also lacks sensitivity for assessing risk for diabetes in this population. High prevalence of family history of diabetes may point towards genetic predisposition. Leanness is an inherent characteristic of this population and its metabolic significance needs further investigations with a larger sample size.