BACKGROUND Sex hormones have a great impact on energy metabolism, body composition, vascular function and inflammatory responses and insulin resistance. Ovarian hormones influence insulin sensitivity across the lifespan of women. DM prevalence also affects women's health across the life stages causing the second highest mortality in South Asians. DM has polyfactorial aetiological differences between males and females. There is need of search of sex/gender specific risk factors of DM in middle aged women. Therefore, this study is undertaken to analyse the association of sex hormones with insulin resistance, obesity and lipid profile thereby to assess the DM risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS A cross-sectional study was done on 120 volunteered eumenorrheic women of age between 20 - 40 years. Serum estradiol, testosterone, steroid hormone-binding globulin, dehydroepiandrosterone, insulin, fasting blood glucose and lipid profile assayed by standard biochemical methods. Insulin resistance was calculated using HOMA-IR formulae. Data obtained were analysed with a set statistical significance at p < 0.05. RESULTS 120 adult women with normal and regular menstrual cycle of range 3 - 7/28 - 35 days were studied. The women had a mean age of 29.05 +/- 5.8 years and were categorised into Group I (20 - 30) and Group II (31 - 40 years). The mean of sex hormone profile was in normal range. Mean BMI was 22.55 kg/m(2). Estradiol, testosterone and DHEA showed no significant association with HOMA-IR. SHBG showed a significant positive association with FBG, Insulin, HOMA-IR and negative with BMI. Mean Triglyceride, FBG, Insulin and IR increased in Group II was significant with p < 0.05. CONCLUSION Androgen level influences dyslipidaemia irrespective of the age in women. SHBG is positively associated with hyperinsulinaemia, IR and have negative association with BMI proposing that IR is not always dependent on obesity status in women. The interplay of SHBG through its impact on testosterone and estradiol levels to influence the IR has to be further studied to consider sex hormones as an independent age or gender specific DM risk marker.