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Identifying the waist circumference of risk in people of African descent

The relationship between type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), insulin resistance and central obesity is not uniformly applicable to populations worldwide. In this Comment, we discuss the challenge of establishing waist circumference thresholds to predict T2DM in Africa.

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Fig. 1: Abdominal computerized tomographic scans.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank A. F. Hobabagabo, T. Hormenu, L. Malan and E. M. Shoup for their insightful comments. A.E.S. is supported by the intramural programs of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney diseases (NIDDK) and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). M.H.B. is supported by the NIH Clinical Center.

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Correspondence to Anne E. Sumner.

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Sumner, A.E., Bagheri, M.H. Identifying the waist circumference of risk in people of African descent. Nat Rev Endocrinol 16, 1–3 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-019-0289-0

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