Prevalence of diabesity in the Spanish working population: influence of sociodemographic variables and tobacco consumption

Abstract

Background. Obesity predisposes to type 2 diabetes so often that the combination is called diabesity. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of diabesity in the working population and to analyze the variables associated with it. Method. Cross-sectional study between January 2019 and June 2020 by 418,343 workers from 18 to 67 year-old, from different professions and Spanish geographic areas. The prevalence of diabesity was determined with six different formulae for obesity: BMI (body mass index), CUN BAE (Clínica Universidad de Navarra-Body Adiposity Estimator), ECORE-BF (Equation Córdoba for Estimation of Body Fat), Formula Palafolls, FMI (fat mass index) of Deuremberg and RFM (relative fat mass). The association between diabetes and age, sex, social class and tobacco was analyzed. Results. The global prevalence of diabetes ranged from 2.6% for BMI to 5.8% for the Palafolls formula. The variable most related to diabesity was age over 50 years (OR=5.9; 95%CI: 5.7-6.2 for BMI, and OR = 8.1; 95%CI: 7.9-8.4 for FMI of Deu-remberg). Male sex and social class III related with diabesity estimated by all formulas, while being a smoker was only related with the Palafolls formula. Conclusion. Diabesity prevalence varies depending on the formula used, with much lower prevalence among women and increased with age independent of the formula used. Its prevalence is higher in the lower social classes.