Washington: One in five Type-2 diabetics is morbidly obese, approximately 100 pounds or more overweight, warns a new study.

Researchers from Loyola University Health System (LUHS) reported that 62.4 percent of US adults, or nearly a third of the population with Type-2 diabetes, are obese and 20.7 percent are morbidly obese.

Diabetics are already at higher risk from cardiovascular disease and obesity further compounds this risk, especially among women. Obesity also increases other diabetes complications, including end stage kidney disease.

"The rate of morbid obesity among people with diabetes is increasing at a very alarming rate, and this has substantial public health implications," said Holly Kramer, who led the study.

Kramer is an associate professor in nephrology at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

Obesity is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30, approximately 30 pounds overweight. Morbid obesity is defined as having a BMI greater than 40. BMI is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

For example, a 5-foot-2-inch adult with a 40 BMI weighs 218 pounds (82 pounds overweight), while a 6-foot-2-inch adult with a 40 BMI weighs 311 pounds (117 pounds overweight).

Kramer and colleagues examined data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys completed during the years 1976 to 2006.

The surveys, known as NHANES, included interviews and physical examinations of representative samples of the US population.

Between the survey periods 1976-1980 and 2005-2006, there was a 141 percent increase in the rate of morbid obesity among adults with Type-2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.

The greatest growth in obesity has been among diabetics who are morbidly obese. Thus, focusing solely on overall obesity rates "hinders the complete comprehension of this massive public health problem", Kramer and colleagues wrote.

Other obesity complications include sleep disordered breathing, arthritis and fatty liver disease, says an LUHS release.

These findings were published online in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications. IANS