Type 2 diabetes mellitus（T2DM） has become one of the main enemy threating human health，and its management has become an important public health problem. Content and distribution changes of body composition（including fat，muscle and bone mineral density） in the management of T2DM have attracted extensive attention. A growing evidence demonstrates that there are differences in body composition between patients with and without T2DM. In addition to uncontrollable factors such as age，gender and race，controllable factors such as metabolism，hypoglycemic drugs and lifestyle also influence the body composition of T2DM. Currently，the association between body composition and T2DM is still inconclusive. Based on this，this paper reviewed relevant studies on the body composition of T2DM，summarized its content and distribution characteristics，and reviewed effects of metabolism，hypo－glycemic drugs and lifestyle on it，providing an important basis for the management of T2DM，especially the prevention and treatment of diabetes-related complications.