Effect of abdominal obesity on insulin resistance and the components of the metabolic syndrome: evidence supporting obesity as the central feature.

Background: Metabolic syndrome includes abdominal obesity, diabetes type 2, hypertension, dyslipidemia, derangements of fibrinolysis, and atherosclerosis. Since abdominal obesity is one of the major components of the insulin resistance syndrome (IRS), an attempt was made to evaluate the interrelationships between the magnitude of obesity and the components of the syndrome.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 123 subjects with type 2 diabetes, of whom 31 were normal body weight and 92 had varying degrees of obesity was conducted.