Pinto, Guido
Working paper no. 2014-04
Abstract
To assess the magnitude of the relationship between obesity and type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) among Mexican elderly population.
Material and Methods
Data from the 2001, 2003, and 2012 Mexican Health and Aging Study (MHAS) was used and estimates were obtained using multivariate logit regression methods for panel data.
Results
Logit models produced positive, strong, and significant estimates of the relationship between obesity and T2DM at the population-level, after adjusting for respondent’s individual traits and thus, show that obese individuals, particularly those with abdominal obesity, are more likely to develop diabetes.
Conclusion: The empirical findings gleaned in this paper provide additional evidence of the role of obesity as the primary driver of diabetes. This means that reductions in obesity rates, especially waist obesity, may lead to important declines in morbidity and mortality from diabetes, which consequently may lead to cost reductions for the health system.