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White rice consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: meta-analysis and systematic review

BMJ 2012; 344 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e1454 (Published 15 March 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;344:e1454

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Re: White rice consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: meta-analysis and systematic review

Hu's and colleagues metaanalysis demonstrates an association between rice intake and diabetes risk. The authors note that "most established risk factors for type 2 diabetes were adjusted for in the fully adjusted models in these studies." We recently completed a study of 621 Chinese immigrants living in New York City who attended free cardiovascular screening, daily number of times rice was inversely, though not statistically correlated with fasting glucose level. Daily rice servings were correlated with age and BMI, both of which were strongly correlated with fasting glucose(See table). While our findings are limited by their cross-sectional design and much smaller sample size, it is impossible to judge the validity of the Hu study without more information regarding how adjustments for a likely colinearity between rice servings, age, and BMI.

Competing interests: No competing interests

23 April 2012
Ady Oster
Physician
Charles B. Wang Community Health Center
268 Canal Street New York, NY 10013 USA