Effects of young obesity and type 2 diabetes through adult life and the ageing process

The emergence of large cohorts of young and middle-aged people with obesity and severe obesity, many with early-onset diabetes type 2 represents a new phenotype.

To which extent this will have long-term effects, resulting in premature ageing, multimorbidity, social consequences, and loss of function has not yet been fully elucidated, but will likely have a lasting effect on health, quality of life, and on the chance of a long and independent life.

We will use register data from Sweden and data from an international large cohort with respect to cardiometabolic exposures which we will link to outcome data on social, functional, and medical consequences.

Specifically we will study effects of early obesity, type 2 diabetes and 1) multimorbidity 2) marginalisation (early retirement, unemployment, need of welfare) 3) frailty and/or loss of independence, 4) age-related loss of mental and physical function.

Multimorbidity, marginalisation, frailty, and loss of independence (need of home or residential care) will be studied through combined Swedish registries.

Data from the Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiologic (PURE) study of >150,000 people in 21 countries followed since 2003 will be used to study the effect of obesity on multimorbidity, loss of function (lung function, cognition, grip strength, mobility and frailty) with advancing age across low-, middle-, and high-income populations.

Repeated examinations in PURE will provide information on progress in loss of function with age.