[Abstract] Objective To investigate the correlation between the severity of lower extremity arterial disease and the body fat percentage and bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Methods According to the maximum stenosis value of the lower extremity artery, three hundred and nineteen hospitalized T2DM patients were divided into four groups, including non-stenosis group, mild stenosis group, moderate stenosis group and severe stenosis group. The values of body fat percentage in different parts of body, BMD of the second to fourth lumber vertebrate (L2-4BMD), BMD of the left femoral bone and relevant metabolic characteristics were measured and compared between four groups. The relationship of these indexes and the lower extremity arterial disease was analyzed. Results With the increase in the severity, the spine fat percentage (SF%) was gradually increased and the left femoral BMD decreased. In moderate and severe groups, the level of body fat percentage (BF%) was higher and that of L2-4BMD was lower than those of other groups. And there was a higher value of left femur body fat percentage (LF%) in severe group than that of non-stenosis group. In moderate and severe groups, the level of body mass index (BMI), triglyceride(TG), glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c) and systolic blood pressure (SBP) were higher than those of other groups. The levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) were higher in moderate and severe groups than those of non-stenosis group. In addition, there were higher value of blood calcium in severe group than that of non-stenosis and mild groups, and lower value of high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C) in moderate and severe groups than that of mild group. There was a positive correlation between the lower extremity arterial diseases and SF%, HbA1c, TC, course of disease, BF% and SBP, but a negative correlation between lower extremity arterial diseases and the left femoral BMD and the L2-4BMD (P < 0.05). Moreover, the increased levels of SF%, HbA1c and TC, and the decreased level of the left femoral BMD were risk factors for the severity of angiographic peripheral arterial disease in T2DM patients. Conclusion The abdominal obesity and the decrease of the lower extremity BMD were closely related to the lower extremity arterial disease in patients with T2DM.