In this study, we investigated the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations of seven T2D-susceptibility variants in the KCNJ11, PPARG, TCF7L2, IGF2BP2, CDKAL1, SLC30A8 and HHEX genes with fasting glucose level, and of another in the FTO gene with BMI, in a large, population-based European-Australian cohort. Here, FTO is linked to type 2 diabetes mellitus.