title: Body adiposity index, body fat content and incidence of type 2 diabetes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to compare estimates of body fat content, i.e. body adiposity index (BAI), BMI and waist and hip circumferences, with respect to their ability to predict the percentage of body fat (PBF; confirmed by magnetic resonance tomography) and incident type 2 diabetes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Associations between anthropometric measurements and PBF were evaluated in the Tübingen Lifestyle Intervention Program (TULIP; 138 men, 222 women), and between these measurements and incident type 2 diabetes in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Potsdam study (9,729 men, 15,438 women) and the Cooperative Health Research in the Region of Augsburg (KORA) study (5,573 men, 5,628 women), using correlation and multivariate Cox regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  BMI more strongly correlated with PBF (men: r = 0.81, women: r = 0.84) than BAI (r = 0.68 and 0.81, respectively), while waist circumference among men (r = 0.84) and hip circumference among women (r = 0.88) showed the strongest correlations. BAI overestimated PBF among men (mean difference -3.0%), and this error was dependent on the value of PBF. BAI was more weakly associated with diabetes risk (RRs for 1 SD, EPIC-Potsdam men: 1.62 [95% CI 1.52, 1.72], women: 1.67 [95% CI 1.55, 1.80]; KORA men: 1.62 [95% CI 1.48, 1.78], women: 1.82 [95% CI 1.65, 2.02]) compared with BMI (RRs, EPIC-Potsdam men: 1.95 [95% CI 1.83, 2.09], women 1.88 [95% CI 1.76, 2.02], KORA men 1.75 [95% CI 1.62, 1.89], women 2.00 [95% CI 1.81, 2.22]), while waist circumference showed the strongest associations (RRs: 2.17 [95% CI 2.01, 2.35], 2.33 [95% CI 2.15, 2.53], 1.81 [95% CI 1.66, 1.96] and 2.29 [95% CI 2.05, 2.57] for EPIC-Potsdam men and women and KORA men and women, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Waist circumference in men and hip circumference in women are better predictors of PBF than BAI and BMI. BAI was not as strong a predictor of diabetes as BMI, while waist circumference was the strongest predictor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke, Arthur-Scheunert-Allee 114-116, 14558 Nuthetal, Germany. mschulze@dife.de
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Schulze
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Thorand
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fritsche
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Häring
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schick
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zierer
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rathmann
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kröger
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Boeing
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stefan
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055105:Waist Circumference / Q000502:physiology