Short Adult Stature Predicts Impaired &bgr;-Cell Function, Insulin Resistance, Glycemia, and Type 2 Diabetes in Finnish Men

Context: Recent studies have highlighted the role of height in complex diseases, but conflicting information has been reported on height as a predictor of changes in glycemia and risk of type 2 diabetes. Objective: Our aim was to investigate the association of height with insulin sensitivity, insulin secretion, glycemia, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD) in a large prospective population-based study. Design: The study included 8746 Finnish men (mean ± standard deviation, age 57.2 ± 7.1 years, body mass index, 26.8 ± 3.8 kg/m2) selected from a population-based Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) study. Setting: The study was conducted at Kuopio University Hospital and University of Eastern Finland. Participants: The participants were nondiabetic at the recruitment, and 5401 subjects have participated in the follow-up study. During the follow-up, a total of 693 subjects converted to type 2 diabetes and 351 were diagnosed with a new CVD event during the follow-up. Main Outcome Measures: The main outcome measures were incidence of type 2 diabetes and CVD. Results: Height measured at baseline was significantly associated with lower levels of 2-hour glucose in an oral glucose tolerance test, an increase in insulin secretion, a decrease in the risk of type 2 diabetes [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.83(confidence interval [CI] 0.77 to 0.90)] and CVD [HR = 0.75(CI 0.67 to 0.83)] during the follow-up. Conclusion: Short stature is associated with unfavorable changes in glucose metabolism and predicts an increase in the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events.