ArticleJournal of diabetes and metabolic disorders2026
The 25-year national trends in prevalence of metabolic phenotypes among iranian adults: from 2000 to 2025 using STEPS studies.
Article in Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Association of a near-MC4R gene variant (rs17782313) with hyperphagia among patients with severe obesity.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2026Article
- Innovation without inclusion? a scoping review on inequities in diabetes technology access.Journal of diabetes and metabolic disorders · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The increasing global burden of obesity and its metabolic complications necessitates a detailed understanding of specific metabolic phenotypes. This study investigates the 25-year trends in the prevalence of eight metabolic phenotypes that are categorized by body mass index (BMI) and metabolic health status, among Iranian adults from 2000 to 2025. Methods: This retrospective analysis utilized data from four national and sub-national cross-sectional studies based on the World Health Organization (WHO) STEPwise approach to non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors surveillance (STEPS), conducted in Iran from 2007, 2011, 2016, and 2021. Adults aged 25-65 were classified into eight phenotypes based on BMI categories (underweight, normal weight, overweight, obese) and metabolic health status (healthy/unhealthy), defined using the National Cholesterol Education Program's and Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. A smoothing spline model was applied to estimate trends from 2000 to 2025. Results: A total of 55,204 adults were included in this study. From 2000 to 2025, the prevalence of metabolically unhealthy overweight (MUOW) increased from 19.16% to 26.20%, and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUOb) from 15.07% to 21.67%, while metabolically healthy normal weight (MHNW) declined from 26.82% to 13.67%. For both genders, there was a constant increase in MUOW and MUOb, with the percentage of MUOb being nearly twice as high in females compared to males (In 2000: 19.37% vs. 10.30%, In 2025: 26.16% vs. 14.86% among females vs. males). The prevalence of MUOW (In 2000: 20.69% vs. 16.99%, among urban and rural areas, respectively, and In 2025: 26.72% vs. 23.14% among urban and rural areas, respectively) and MUOb (In 2000: 15.54% vs. 11.75%, among urban and rural areas, respectively, and In 2025: 23.26% vs. 18.76% among urban and rural areas, respectively) increased, with urban areas showing higher percentages than rural areas. Across age groups, MUOW and MUOb consistently rose over the years, peaking in the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups, while the 25-34 age group had the highest percentage of MHNW. Across provinces, MUOW and MUOb increased, while metabolically healthy underweight (MHUW), MHNW, metabolically healthy obese (MHOb), metabolically unhealthy underweight (MUUW), and metabolically unhealthy normal weight ( MUNW) decreased, with metabolically healthy overweight (MHOW) showing a slight rise. Conclusion: From 2000 to 2025, a significant increase in metabolically unhealthy phenotypes, particularly MUOW and MUOb, was observed among Iranian adults, driven by a decline in metabolically healthy phenotypes. This trend underscores the need for targeted public health interventions, especially for older adults, women, and urban populations. Regional differences reflect varying cultural and socioeconomic factors. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-025-01805-3.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.