[Obesity and non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Considerations on an epidemiological study].

We have investigated the age of onset of diabetes mellitus and the body weight in an ethnically homogeneous population of type II diabetics (737 subjects, of whom 248 newly diagnosed). In newly diagnosed diabetics the mean age of onset of diabetes was significantly (p less than 0.001) lower in males than in females. The mean percentage of overweight was significantly (p less than 0.001) higher in female than in male diabetics. In percent, newly diagnosed female diabetics were more obese than newly diagnosed male diabetics. In males, no correlation was found between age and weight, at the moment of diagnosis, while in females a poorly significant (p less than 0.05) negative correlation was found. Our results seem to indicate that in an ethnic group, besides overweight, other (genetic?, dietetic?, environmental?) factors can be prevalent causes of diabetes mellitus.