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Body composition and susceptibility to type 2 diabetes: an evolutionary perspective
1Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
|March 30, 2017
Summary
Type 2 diabetes risk is rising globally due to obesity and inactivity. Evolutionary changes in human body composition, like reduced muscle and increased fat, explain our susceptibility to this metabolic disease.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Human physiology
- Metabolic disease research
Background:
- Type 2 diabetes prevalence is increasing worldwide, linked to obesity and sedentary lifestyles.
- Susceptibility to diabetes varies by ethnicity and life-course nutritional exposures.
- An evolutionary perspective is crucial for understanding human proneness to diabetes and risk distribution.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the evolutionary underpinnings of human susceptibility to type 2 diabetes.
- To utilize a conceptual model linking metabolic capacity and load to diabetes risk.
- To explain how long-term evolutionary trends in body composition influence diabetes risk.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual modeling of diabetes risk factors.
- Analysis of evolutionary trends in hominin body composition (muscularity and fatness).
- Integration of life-course nutritional exposures and geographical variations.
Main Results:
- Hominin evolution shows decreased muscularity and increased body fatness, particularly in females.
- These evolutionary traits likely evolved for survival during ecological instability.
- Divergence in body composition since Homo sapiens' emergence correlates with environment and ecological stress.
Conclusions:
- Long-term evolutionary trends in metabolic capacity and adiposity contribute to human diabetes susceptibility.
- These evolutionary factors interact with life-course nutritional exposures, exacerbating diabetes risk.
- Understanding evolutionary pressures provides insight into modern diabetes epidemics.
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