The goal of the present work was to examine the prevalence and associated risk factors of undiagnosed diabetes among urban Moroccan Sahraoui women.

Randomised sample of adult women living in the city of Laayoune in south Morocco who visited public health centres during an immunisation campaign. Body weight, height, waist and hip circumferences, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), triglycerides, dietary intake and physical activity were collected.

Data were obtained on 249 urban women aged 15 years and older, who were not pregnant. Only subjects identified as of Sahraoui origin were eligible for this investigation.

The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) was 5.5% and that of undiagnosed diabetes 6.4%. Diabetes and IFG were more common among older and obese women as well as among women with hypertension or a family history of diabetes. In addition, sucrose intakes were higher in women with diabetes than in those with normal FPG. Also, physical activity estimated as the time spent in walking was negatively associated with FPG. Regression analyses showed an independent association of age, obesity, family history of diabetes and triglycerides with diabetes.

The high proportion of unknown diabetes suggests the need for increased diabetes awareness in this population. The data suggest also the involvement of obesity in diabetes and the potential importance of intervention strategies to reduce population adiposity for the prevention and management of cardiovascular risk factors.