clipped from: www.cmaj.ca Background: Elevated waist circumference and body mass index (BMI), both traditional measures of obesity, are accepted risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Girls who are obese experience earlier onset of puberty and possibly greater breast development. We sought to evaluate whether a woman's breast size in late adolescence is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adulthood.
Interpretation: A large bra cup size at age 20 may be a predictor of type 2 diabetes mellitus in middle-aged women. Whether this relation is independent of traditional indicators of obesity remains to be determined.