【Press Release】Ethnicity and Body Weight Together Greatly Increase Type 2 Diabetes Risk in Women
Gunma University research has found that ethnicity and BMI strongly and jointly influence a woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
This study is a collaboration between the Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research and The University of Queensland School of Public Health, led by Professor Gita Mishra, Adjunct Professor of the International Open Laboratory.
Dr Kazue Nagai and Dr Hsin-Fang Chung analysed health data from more than 730,000 women across 15 studies conducted in Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Sweden, United States, and China.
“Our findings show that Asian and Black women (including African American, Caribbean, other Black identities) have a markedly elevated risk of type 2 diabetes compared with Caucasian women in Australia, Europe, and the United States, and this risk is further amplified by higher BMI,” Dr Nagai said.
“South or Southeast Asian and Black women had the highest diabetes risk, reaching 25% by age 70. Japanese and Chinese women followed at around 18% and 12%, respectively, whereas Caucasian women had the lowest risk at 7%.”
“Even after accounting for differences in body weight or central obesity, South or Southeast Asian women had more than four times the diabetes risk compared with Caucasian women, while Japanese, Chinese, Black, and Mixed or Other women had twice the risk,” Dr Chung said.
“Asian and Black women showed a greater diabetes risk than Caucasian women at the same BMI, even within the normal BMI range, and this risk was substantially higher among those with overweight or obesity.”
“Among women with an obese BMI ≥30.0 kg/m², the risk for South or Southeast Asian women was 35-fold higher, followed by Black women (24-fold), Japanese women (20-fold), and Chinese women (14-fold), all exceeding the risk seen in Caucasian women (10-fold), compared with Caucasian women with a BMI of 18.5-22.9 kg/m².”
“This shows that ethnicity strongly influences diabetes risk, even at the same BMI.”
Senior author Professor Gita Mishra said this is the largest study to examine how ethnicity and body weight jointly affect type 2 diabetes risk in women, with particular representation of three Asian subgroups.
“Our findings suggest that Asian women, particularly South or Southeast Asians, may have unique risk profiles for type 2 diabetes.”
“This highlights the need for early, ethnicity-specific diabetes prevention strategies, prioritising South or Southeast Asian women, including those with normal or modestly elevated BMI,” Professor Mishra said.
The research was published in the journal Diabetes Care and used data from the International collaboration for a Life course Approach to reproductive health and Chronic disease Event (InterLACE) consortium.
■Publication Details:
- Title: The Association Between Race/Ethnicity and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes in Women Varies by BMI: A Pooled Analysis of Individual Data From 15 Cohort Studies
- Journal: Diabetes Care
- DOI:10.2337/dc25-1478
- Publication date: December 2, 2025, 7:00 PM (Central Standard Time)- corresponds to December 3, 2025, 10:00 AM (Japan Standard Time)
■Contact Information:
- Dr. Kazue Nagai
Associate Professor, Gunma University Center for Food Science and Wellness/
Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR)
Gunma University
Email: kazue-nagai [at] gunma-u.ac.jp - Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research (GIAR)
GIAR Support Office, Gunma University
Email: kk-kensui4 [at] ml.gunma-u.ac.jp
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