ArticleAmerican journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council2026
Inverse Association Between Betel Quid Use and Diabetes in Rural Bangladesh.
Article in American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Inverse Association Between Betel Quid Use and Diabetes in Rural Bangladesh.American journal of human biology : the official journal of the Human Biology Council · 2026Article
- An evolutionary perspective on the use of betel nut and its effects on health outcomes.Evolution, medicine, and public health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesBetel quid is used as a mild stimulant in many parts of South and East Asia and the Pacific. In observational studies, its use has been associated with elevated risk for diabetes, but studies in animal models suggest some component(s) of betel quid could reduce risk.
methodsWe assessed associations between betel quid use and diabetes (glycated hemoglobin, HbA
resultsIn multivariable logistic regression, betel quid use was inversely associated with diabetes among men (aOR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.26, 0.79) but not women (aOR: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.51, 1.52). There was a dose-response relationship between frequency of betel quid use and diabetes among men (aOR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.59, 0.89), but not women (aOR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.18). Betel quid use was inversely associated with diabetes as an ordinal variable (no diabetes/prediabetes/diabetes) among men (aOR: 0.55; 95% CI: 0.36, 0.82) and women (aOR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.47, 0.94). Structural equation modeling suggested that some of the inverse association was mediated by food source (market vs. household production).
conclusionsThese models support the hypothesis that betel quid use could decrease, rather than increase, risk for diabetes in the Bangladeshi context, particularly among men (who have more frequent betel quid use than women). Heterogeneity in betel quid preparation across settings, multifactorial effects of betel quid use, and publication bias may contribute to differences between these findings and other observational studies.
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